REQUEST FOR DECISION
DATE: December 2, 2020 Report No. EPW-20-025
TO: Laurie Hurst, Chief Administrative Officer
FROM: Jeff Miller, Director of Engineering and Public Works
SUBJECT:
Title
Update on Motor Vehicle Act Pilot Project on Lowering Speed Limit - Residential Roads End
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
That Council approve the Township’s participation in a three-year pilot project for a revised default speed limit (40 km/hr.) for roads without continuous yellow centreline markings (residential) as outlined in Staff Report No.EPW-20-025 and direct staff to advise the District of Saanich accordingly.
Body
RELEVANT POLICY:
Streets and Traffic Bylaw, 2017, No. 2898
Official Community Plan Bylaw, 2018, No. 2922
British Columbia Motor Vehicle Act
STRATEGIC RELEVANCE:
Healthy, Livable and Diverse Community: Support multi-modal transportation strategies that reflect the cumulative impact of business and residential development; and
Local Services and Infrastructure: Support ongoing improvements to transportation corridors
BACKGROUND:
Speed limits are set in two ways within the Township; the Streets and Traffic Bylaw and the British Columbia Motor Vehicle Act (MVA). The Bylaw method allows the Township to set speeds on roads provided the correct signage is also installed. This ability is provided for under the authority of the MVA. The MVA also contains clauses that set overarching speed limits for roads. Examples of this are in Section 146 where unsigned roads within a municipality are set at a default speed limit of 50 km/hr and unsigned roads outside of municipalities are set a default speed limit of 80 km/hr.
In 2019, a motion was brought forward at the Union of British Columbia Municipalities Annual Conference to adjust the default speed limit within municipalities at a lower speed (i.e. 30 or 40 km/hr). This information was received by the Province and in turn modified the MVA - part 13 was added to allow pilot projects that would research, test, and evaluate new regulatory approaches to matters not currently set out in the MVA framework.
The District of Saanich has initiated a pilot project to promote region-wide participation for lowering the speed limit on roads within a municipality (see attachment 1). Council has directed staff to provide additional information regarding the project at a future Council meeting.
The goal of the project is to lower the speed limit from 50 km/hr to 40 km/hr on roads that do not have a continuous yellow centre line. For the Township this would be all roads designated as residential roads as per the Official Community Plan (see attachment 2). Roads that have the speed limits modified under the bylaw are not affected by this proposed change (see attachment 3 for speed limit modifications).
As per the direction from Council, staff have been monitoring the work being carried out by Saanich but have not been actively participating at the group meetings. The group meetings have included discussion of scope of the pilot project, reasons for undertaking, what municipalities have done so far, and discussions with the Chief Constables of Saanich and Victoria. This information was then provided to Saanich Council in October of 2020 (see attachment 4).
In November of 2020, Mayor Haynes, District of Saanich, encouraged the region to participate in this pilot project (see attachment 5). Staff have contacted their counterparts in other municipalities to determine the level of support for this initiative and based on these conversations and reports to Council, the breakdown of participation within the CRD municipalities to date is as follows:
• Participating
o Saanich, Oak Bay, Central Saanich and Victoria (report to be presented to Council in December of 2020)
• Not participating
o Langford, Colwood, View Royal and North Saanich
The Township is scheduled to complete its biannual traffic counts by mid-December, 2020. This work includes the recording of the number of vehicles and their speeds. Counts are being carried out in 33 locations on both major and residential collector roads. Monitoring of speeds and vehicle counts on residential roads is carried out by the Township on an “as-needed” basis with respect to traffic calming requests.
ISSUES:
1. Rationale for Selected Option
A review of the regional working group’s efforts has been conducted. The potential benefits this pilot project may produce make this a project worth undertaking.
Positives to this project include:
• Reduced operating speed
• Improved road safety based on the experience of other municipalities
• Improved neighbourhood livability (see Attachment 2)
• Partial regional participation with the Core municipalities
Negatives to this project include:
• The pilot project is a three-year commitment with no guarantee that the MVA will be modified to reflect the project’s recommendations.
• While the speed limit can be set at any speed deemed appropriate, drivers may not drive at that speed. Drivers have a tendency to drive at speeds that they feel comfortable with, based on the surrounding environment (e.g. existence of on-street parking, sense of community, education). Most drivers on residential roads without centre lines generally drive within the region of 40 to 50 km/hr. There are always outliers to this premise, with some drivers travelling at substantially higher speeds than either default speed limit. Fortunately, these individuals are a small minority.
• There will be a learning period for Township residents and other drivers to the speed change during the pilot project. Once the pilot is completed, if the MVA has not been changed, the default speed limit will be returned to 50km/hr. This will cause confusion as to what the correct speed is for this type of road.
• As not all municipalities within the CRD are participating in this pilot, drivers will be further confused as to which speed they should be travelling on these roads across the region.
• The enforcement of the changed default speed limit will be challenging. It should be noted that enforcement of the current 50 km/hr. speed limit is already challenging due to availability of time and resources for enforcement.
2. Organizational Implications
This project will not have a significant impact on the organization. The Director of Engineering and Public Works along with the Engineering Manager can integrate this project into the proposed future work plans. This pilot project will also be discussed at the Community Safety Services Working Group as it is undertaken.
3. Financial Implications
The pilot project will have minor budgetary impacts to the next three-year Financial Plans. In Year 1, there will be costs for the manufacture and installation of gateway signage, education of stakeholders/residents, along with consultant costs. Year 2 will see mainly consulting costs related to information gathering. Year 3 will have costs for removal of the gateway signage and providing information to the Province and users. A breakdown of the costs is:
• Year 1 - $3,000
• Year 2 - $1,000
• Year 3 - $2,200
• Total - $6,200
If the direction is to participate in the pilot project, a funding request will be made in the 2021 - 2025 Financial Plan.
4. Sustainability & Environmental Implications
During the course of the pilot project, there will not be any significant sustainability and environmental implications. This is mainly due to the short time span of the pilot project. The pilot project will, however, provide important information on how a lower speed limit will impact driving habits and use of the road corridor by other multi-modal users. This information could promote an increase in the usage of other modes of transportation if the users feel more comfortable/safe when using residential roads.
5. Communication & Engagement
If the recommendation is approved, a formal response will be made from the Township to the District of Saanich addressing the decision to participate in the pilot project. Staff will become more active in their engagement with other pilot project participants as the project moves forward. Information will also be posted on the Township’s website and other electronic media of the Township’s participation.
ALTERNATIVES:
1. That Council approve the Township’s participation in a three-year pilot project for a revised default speed limit (40 km/hr.) for roads without continuous yellow centreline markings (residential) as outlined in Staff Report No. EPW-20-025 and direct staff to advise the District of Saanich accordingly.
2. That Council does not approve the Township’s participation in a three-year pilot project for a revised default speed limit (40 km/hr.) for roads without continuous yellow centreline markings (residential) as outlined in Staff Report No. EPW-20-025.