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A new 40km/h speed limit for the Cathedral neighbourhood will take effect next week, the City of Regina announced Tuesday.
The change is part of the city’s first Community Safety Zone, which was approved by council in May to address pedestrian safety.
“Anytime we can decrease a vehicle’s speed we increase reaction time for both the driver and other users of the roadway,” stated Sgt. Shannon Gordon of the Regina Police Service in a news release. “Equally as important, by decreasing speed we dramatically increase survivability and decrease severity of injury if contact is made with a pedestrian or cyclist.”
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Two pedestrian deaths along 13th Avenue last year raised community concerns and were part of the push for Cathedral to be the first area to adopt the new speed limit. Other new traffic-calming measures like curb extensions already line the neighbourhood’s thoroughfare.
School zones will remain 30 km/h, the release notes, adding that all other areas within the community will be reduced to 40 km/h and new signs at all entrances and exits of the safety zone have been installed.
“Reducing the speed limit from 50 km/h to 40 km/h decreases the likelihood of fatality in the event of an accident from 85 per cent to 30 per cent,” the release notes.
Amended from an originally proposed 30 km/h speed limit, the idea is part of a larger traffic safety plan called a Vision Zero Framework that will eventually be rolled out in other parts of Regina.
The change adds an average of 28 seconds to the commute down 13th Avenue, and the cost of changing signage to reflect the new speed limit is estimated to be $15,000.
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