New Westminster lowering speed limits along bike routes, bikeways
Posted June 8, 2017 10:37 am.
Last Updated June 9, 2017 6:24 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
NEW WESTMINSTER (NEWS 1130) – If you’re driving in New Westminster, you may soon notice some new, slower speed limits in some areas of the city. City Council approved the move in an effort to improve safety for cyclists.
The speed limit along bike routes, greenways and streets that don’t allow cycling on sidewalks will drop to 30 km/h.
Transportation Manager Lisa Leblanc says they’ll start with the Rotary-Crosstown greenway which runs across the city. “We have a number of schools that are located on either side of that greenway, so it’s a really important greenway for getting kids to and from school. And then we’ll expand out from there to the rest of our designated routes.”
She adds the lower speed limit is in conjunction with other efforts to make cycling safer, including improvements to the Brunette Fraser Greenway and installing more bike parking in the Uptown neighbourhood. “We’re going to identify the locations where we’ve got speed well in excess of 30 km/h and we’re actually going to go in and do some engineering improvements to make the road read differently so that motorists no longer feel comfortable driving those speeds.”
The City of Vancouver has had lower speed limits around bike routes for about eight years.
For more information on this initiative click here.
