Town contemplates speed limit changes

Public input is being sough as another Foothills town contemplates reducing the speed limit in residential areas.

Black Diamond Town administration posted an online survey last week asking for the opinion of residents on dropping the residential speed limit from 50 km/hr to 40 km/hr. This change, if approved, would exclude Government Road and Centre Avenue, as well as school and playground zones.

“It’s a topic of conversation,” said Verna Staples, Black Diamond legislative services manager. “It wasn’t like we had major accidents that were fueling the fire or anything. A number of communities around us have made the change. It’s something that is happening around the province.”

The survey, which went on the Town’s website last week and will close on Oct. 8, asks participants if they see a need to reduce the speed limit, whether it would enhance safety for pedestrians, how safe they feel walking/cycling on residential streets and if they support the reduction of the speed limit as a pedestrian or cyclist.

“We just want to get a feel for how the community feels about it – if it’s something they want to pursue or not,” Staples said.

She said a lower speed limit would increase safety for both drivers and pedestrians in town.

Black Diamond senior peace officer Jim Berry said he doesn’t see a need to change the limit because of the way the streets are designed.

“There are only a few roadways that are really accessible to speeding,” he said. “There are a lot of stop signs and traffic control devices that slow down traffic.”

Berry said peace officers have written about nine speeding tickets on residential roads in the past 10 years in Black Diamond, three of which were given out in school and playground zones.

This doesn’t include tickets issued on Government Road or Centre Avenue, which would not see a speed limit change as they are the property of Alberta Transportation.

“Very rarely do we write speeding tickets on side streets,” he said. “We monitor the playground and school zones morning and afternoon just about every day when school is in. The residents know we are there so they are not going to speed.”

Berry said the highest residential traffic volume is on 3rd Street SW where the Willow Ridge subdivision is, which is currently posted at 30 km/hr.

“When that development was built, administration and council decided to keep a lower speed limit for construction traffic,” he said. “It’s a very windy road. Lots of kids walk that road to and from school. Most of the people I stop for speeding are construction people or are not residents.”

The peace offers write an average of 45 to 60 speeding tickets per month in Black Diamond, said Berry, and of those, 95 per cent are motorists speeding on Government Road and Centre Avenue and most don’t live in the community.

Berry said complaints of motorists speeding in residential areas, playground zones and school zones range. In some cases they get four in one month and other times don’t receive any for eight months, he said.

A public information session with more details will be held Oct. 26.

To take the survey go to town.blackdiamond.ab.ca