Council Passes On Request To Reduce The Speed Limit On Main Street

The speed limit on Main Street is 50 km/hr but at Monday evening’s regular Council meeting a request was made to drop it to 40 km/hr in an effort to make the street safer and hopefully attract more business to the street. It was a request that at this time has been denied.

Speaking on behalf of the Downtown Moose Jaw Association Inc (DMJAI) chair Jeff Anderson - from the Moose Jaw Co-op - asked Council to reduce Main Street’s speed limit by 10 km/hr as a safety measure to help encourage the pop up patio initiative.

The pop-up patio initiative allows Downtown businesses to move their business onto the adjacent street or sidewalk to help not only encourage more sales but also help to create a more lively atmosphere to attract people.

Anderson said the group’s board strongly believed in the safety of all in the Downtown core and in order to make the pop up patios more attractive the speed limit needs to be reduced.

“(It would make it) safer and more enjoyable by reducing (the speed limit),” he told Council in a brief presentation.

Following the short presentation there were no comments from Council and then out of the silence Mayor Fraser Tolmie started to speak.

“Silence is deafening and I just don’t want the presenters to be embarrassed,” Mayor Tolmie said adding that “what we are doing (Downtown) is exciting.”

Appearing as a DMJAI board member John Iatridis (owner of the Mad Greek Restaurant) went on to explain why the group was seeking the speed reduction from Oxford Street to Manitoba Steet and it was people’s driving habits.

The Mad Greek’s pop-and what they have done to keep customers and the general public safe - MJ Independent photo

“Especially going north that is where you see people punch it to go up into the residential (area),” Iatridis said.

Mayor Tolmie said he appreciated the request but he felt more input was needed from the community before making any changes.

“I would like to find out what the community thinks about (changes for) Main Street and we don’t have it,” he said, calling on the community to weigh in before any decision is made.

Councillor Doug Blanc (who worked the majority of professional life with the Department of Highways) questioned whether or not reducing the speed on Main Street would make the street safer.

“Speed has no bearing on the number of accidents,” Councillor Blanc said relating how changing the speed limit on the Trans-Canada Highway from 90 km/hr to 110 km/hr that the “number of accidents were identical…it (speed) just effects the severity.”

“I don’t know how that would fit into a city but I think it will,” he said.

Councillor Blanc said he disagreed with Administration’s suggestion in a report to potentially use speed bumps as one measure to slow the speeds down on Main Street. He mentioned how they potentially could make snow removal more difficult to do.

Councillor Crystal Froese said how much she appreciated the efforts by DMJAI to make the Downtown more vibrant and attractive to residents and tourists before speaking about her safety concerns for Main Street.

Councillor Froese spoke about the two lanes of traffic and how it was hard to understand why there had not been serious accidents on certain stretches of Main Street.

“The corridor by Ross Street when high schoolers get let out for lunch…I am just amazed there is not any accidents,” she said.

She pointed out what she saw as a major problem and that being people will simply avoid the Downtown and take alternative routes.

“If we change the speed limit Downtown people will go out to the 1st Avenues where it is 50 and it could effect those areas.”

Discussion turned to installing traffic calming measures.

Traffic calming measures are such things as speed bumps, speed tables, curb extensions, raised medians, planters and other measures designed to slow the speed of traffic.

Councilor Froese proposed a motion that the City look at the installation of traffic calming measures and ask the Moose Jaw City Police for a thorough report on the issue.

Councillor Heather Eby said she was a great fan of the new initiatives such as painted benches and garbage receptacles and what was happening to improve the Downtown but she could not support the requested change in Main Street’s speed limit.

Councillor Eby spoke anecdotally about a friend who had a business and how the $20 fine for parking too long at a parking meter was $20 less for her friend’s business.

“It’s $20 that doesn’t get spent at her place,” she said, adding the $100 fine for speeding many would face with the reduced speed limit would deter “people from coming Downtown if you are out $100.”

“I don’t think this will do what we intended it to do,” she said.

Councillor Eby said if the City wanted to make the Downtown more attractive then the noise bylaw should be enforced when it comes to loud vehicles which are more of nuisance and ruining outdoor meals on the pop up patios.

Councillor Kim Robinson said he supported lowering the speed limit as the least expensive option. Traffic calming measures would cost more money, he said.

“I see the speed limit (reduction) as less expensive than traffic calming measures,” he said.

Councillor Jamey Logan said he did not see a speed reduction on Main Street as the answer.

“I am just not sure if dropping the speed is going to solve the problem,” Councillor Logan said. “Those who are going to speed are going to speed.”

“I do think a little bit more of leg work needs to be done other than a knee jerk reaction,” he said.

Councillor Dawn Luhning said going to the public for their opinion on reducing the speed would be a wasted exercise.

“If you go out to people they are going to say no,” Councillor Luhning said.

In the end Council approved two motions about the safety concerns of Main Street with neither of them the 40 km/hr the delegation from the Downtown business group had requested.

On the motion to Administration look at traffic calming alternatives Council voted in favour 5 - 2 with Councillors Robinson and Eby opposed and Mayor Tolmie and Councillors Logan, Blanc, Froese and Luhning in favour.

On the motion of requesting a more detailed report on the issue from the Moose Jaw Police Service the Vote was 4 - 3 in favour with Councillors Luhning, Robinson and Eby oppsed and Mayor Tolmie and Councillors Froese, Blanc and Logan in favour.