Regina committee votes in favour of lowering speed limit to 30 km/h in Cathedral neighbourhood
CBC
Regina's executive committee has endorsed a series of changes meant to lower the number of crashes in Regina, with the goal of reducing major injuries or deaths.
According to a staff report, the "vision zero" framework would implement changes across the city, including creation of a community safety zone with a 30 km/h speed limit 24 hours a day in the Cathedral neighbourhood.
Ward 3 Coun. Andrew Stevens has long advocated for changes in Cathedral, a neighbourhood that falls inside his ward. Two pedestrians died in separate traffic incidents in 2023 along 13th Avenue.
"I'll take a thousand angry calls because someone had to go [30 km/h] rather than taking calls about someone dying," Stevens said.
The committee voted 7-3 in favour of creating the community safety zone in Cathedral. The votes against were Ward 2 Coun. Bob Hawkins, Ward 5 Coun. John Findura and Ward 9 Coun. Jason Mancinelli. The changes still need to be approved at a regular city council meeting before being put into effect.
Carolyn Kalim, the city's manager of traffic engineering, admitted to executive committee that the vision zero initiative is a big departure from the city's previous efforts around street design and road safety.
She said feedback from residents was a large factor.
"We have to handle the requests that come in when people have lost a loved one and it's challenging to tell people to their face that [a fatal crash] was an inevitable outcome of a transportation system that moves vehicles efficiently," Kalim said.
Some councillors voiced concern with a lack of public consultation on the changes.
The staff report indicates that the city held four in-person community information sessions. Those events provided residents with information on the vision zero philosophy, according to the staff report.
Only 50 people attended those meetings, although city staff say they also consulted with stakeholders.
Kurtis Doney, the deputy city manager of city operations, confirmed that even if more consultations were held, they would not affect the city's recommendations.
The proposed creation of a community safety zone in the Cathedral neighbourhood drew the most attention from city councillors.
Nicole Strandlund, a Cathedral resident, endorsed the idea.
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