Slow down – it’s the safe thing to do and it will soon be the law.
The City of New Westminster’s engineering department recently presented council with a street and traffic bylaw amendment bylaw, as well as an engineering user fees and rates amendment bylaw. In addition to changes related to the introduction of an electric kick scooter pilot project, the staff report also recommended the city adopt a 20 kilometres per hour speed limit in lanes throughout New West.
The report noted the BC Motor Vehicle Act allows municipalities to set a speed limit of 20 km/h in lanes of eight metres wide or less, without the requirement of erecting speed limit signage.
Mike Anderson, the city’s manager of transportation, said that, in the absence of signage indicating another speed limit, the current speed limit in lanes is 50 km/h. This comes from the provincial Motor Vehicle Act.
“We have heard some concerns about speeding after the city repaves lanes and recently with the naming of some lanes,” he said. “It appears that some online mapping tools may suggest that drivers use named lanes, and residents are concerned about increased traffic as a result.”
Anderson told the Record the City of New Westminster doesn’t get a lot of complaints overall, but recent concerns from residents encouraged the city to take this opportunity to update its bylaw to be consistent with neighbouring municipalities.
Council gave three readings to the bylaws at its June 24 meeting. It’s on the July 8 council agenda for adoption.
The bylaw will take effect once it’s adopted by council.
“This bylaw change is about safety,” Anderson said. “Lanes – whether named or not – are intended for access to properties rather than high-speed traffic.”
Although the Motor Vehicle Act enables the city to quickly set a 20-km/h blanket speed limit with this bylaw amendment without requiring signage at all lanes, residents may see some signage go up in New West.
“The width of lanes varies quite widely across New Westminster, so we may still install signage at some locations to reinforce the speed limit,” Anderson said.
Anderson said the provision in the province’s Motor Vehicle Act that allows this bylaw to be enacted applies only to lanes.
“The city, along with many other B.C. municipalities, has been advocating for several years for the ability to enact blanket speed limits (other than 50 km/h, which is the provincial default for municipal streets) for all municipal streets without the requirement for signage on every block,” he added. “The provincial government has not yet allowed for this.”
