Ottawa might pave the way toward safer streets if Coun. Katherine Hobbs has her way. The Kitchissippi councillor is determined to investigate ways to make Ottawa’s residential roads safer.
In early March, Hobbs wanted the city to investigate the possibility of enforcing a 40-km/h speed limit on all residential roads. Mixed responses from her fellow councillors and a $5-million price tag have cut that idea short. However, Hobbs will continue in her efforts to calm traffic in Ottawa.
The councillor’s new plan is to create a toolkit for communities that would give them options to develop safer and slower streets at a lesser expense. These choices would include using more effective street signs and painting pedestrian pathways on the roads. Hobbs also wants communities to look at artistic street-painting projects that would make motorists aware when they’re driving in residential areas.
“We need to do something, and we really need to look at a lot of different out-of-the-box ideas in order to keep our city very livable as we grow,” says Hobbs.
Eric Darwin, president of the Dalhousie Community Association, has already thrown his support behind Hobbs’ efforts. He says speed reductions in residential areas are long overdue.
“The speed limit of residential areas should be 30. There’s no reason why we should be granting motorists a licence to kill,” he says. “I guess it’s a question of what value we put on human life.”
Darwin says speed limits in Centretown residential areas have been a topic of discussion for some time. He believes Ottawa’s community associations, school councils, cyclists and pedestrians will support a movement toward speed reductions in residential areas throughout the city. The Ontario Highway Traffic Act currently sets the residential road speed at 50 km/h.
University of Ottawa transportation expert Barry Wellar agrees. While doing safety studies for the City of Ottawa in the 1990s, Wellar says he observed that fast motorists in residential intersections were a serious concern.
“The City of Ottawa needs to be ahead of the curve, not behind it,” he says. “I think it makes a huge amount of sense and I suggest it’s overdue.”
Hobbs expects to propose the idea of community toolkits to city council by the end of the year.