A new plan from the city knocks the limit in a few areas from 50 km/h to 40 km/h. New signage has been installed on Hickson Drive, which resident John Head is happy to see. “I’ve been asking for this for two and a half years,” Head said. “I have little kids playing in my yard now and we have to protect them, and we can’t do that when they’re going 20, 30 over the speed limit.” Those in the Heritage Park neighborhood hope the signs will make a difference. “People are just speeding around,” resident Alice Ryan said. “They’re not looking where they’re going. They don’t care. I’ve had some close calls.” Kitchener city planners say reduced limits have already been proven to work through a pilot project in three neighborhoods. “Reducing the speed limit combined with educational efforts reduced the average operating speed by about two miles,” said Aaron McCrimmon-Jones, the director of transportation safety for the city. McCrimmon-Jones adds that this greatly reduces the chance of vehicle collisions resulting in serious injury or death. The city began converting neighborhoods to 40 km/h and school zones to 30 km/h in 2022, but more initiatives are on the way. “We’re about 20-25 percent complete,” McCrimmon-Jones said. “We hope that the entire city will convert all neighborhoods to 40 km/h by 2023.”
SPEED PROBLEMS DESPITE BREAKING THE LIMIT
Residents in the Country Hills neighborhood say their speed limit was lowered a while ago, but they haven’t noticed any difference and drivers are still going over 20-30 km/h. “I saw speed before, I see speed now,” resident John Stager said. Kim Holmes lives in Erinbrook and says she saw a car crash into a neighbor’s house just a day ago. Holmes adds that there was a similar incident a few doors down two years ago, and that speed likely played a factor in both accidents. “I’m not at all surprised, I’m furious,” Holmes said. “Everyone is furious and we’re scared. We know it’s a problem.” Holmes isn’t sure what remains to be done to reduce the speed, but hopes more can be done.
