40km/h limit coming to northwestern neighbourhood in Stratford

Starting this summer, roads in the orange-highlighted area will have speed limits of 40 kilometres an hour.

CONNOR LUCZKA, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Stratford city council greenlit a pilot project for a neighbourhood in the north-west of the Festival City. Starting this summer, the roads in the area bound by Huron Street and McCarthy Road West to the south and north, and O’Loane Avenue and Mornington Street to the west and east, will have speed limits of 40 kilometres an hour.

In October, Coun. Larry McCabe moved a motion to reassess a pilot project to examine reduced speed limits in the city, one of the recommendations in the City of Stratford’s Transportation Master Plan (TMP). After being re-costed by city staff (the signage is expected to cost $11,600), the project was debated and approved – though not all councillors thought it was a sound strategy.

“The reason why we want to do this is for safety of our community. Hard stop,” said Coun. Brad Beatty. “We want our community safe. The reason why, and I've noticed this before, whether it was on this term or previous term, why I didn't feel like this has a great success is due in part to enforcement. … Signs make us feel good, but they don't do anything in reality to change behaviours. If you're going to change behaviours, you have to have a bite to your bark. So unless we can get the province to agree to let us do … a sin-tax on people's behaviour, this is all just an exercise … ”

“People's behaviour does change over time,” Coun. Jo-Dee Burbach said. “So maybe two years is too short for us to see their behaviour change, but they do change over time, and we have heard from the police that they will help with enforcement. The good part about having certain neighbourhoods done one at a time is that the police can then focus on that neighbourhood, we can focus education in that neighbourhood to hopefully get the results that we're looking for … I think it's worth moving forward.”

Resident Kate Mulrooney delegated at council and argued that a pilot project wasn’t needed. She claimed studies from across other jurisdictions point to a correlation between lower speeds and lower injuries and that compliance does happen over time, urging council to move forward with implementing 40 kilometre limits across the city.

“Using a pilot project model implies that there is uncertainty about proceeding with the whole project, and that data (is) needed to obtain certainty,” Mulrooney said. “However, there is already enough certainty to proceed with a city-wide plan, if you agree the results from other jurisdictions are (acceptable).”

Additionally, as Mulrooney said – and Taylor Crinklaw, director of infrastructure services, confirmed – the expected cost of $235,000 to change all city signs could be cut down drastically if done by public works staff (estimated to be about $60-80,000). Crinklaw stipulated that it would likely take five to six years if done with public works staff rather than outside contractors.

“If we're going to implement this, I'd rather we just implement it, especially if the cost can be reduced to … $60,000,” Coun. Mark Hunter said. “… My concern is we get to the end of this study period, and my belief is the results are going to show no difference. What do we do at that point? If we're just going to go ahead and implement it, I'd rather, I'd almost rather it be implemented city-wide.”

Despite some councillors objections, the motion as presented to council passed.

The pilot project will begin in summer 2026 with the installation of signs. Before-and-after speed studies will be conducted at selected locations within the project’s boundaries to quantify changes and public education campaigns will inform residents and visitors about the project. Resident surveys will also be distributed to households within the pilot area to gather feedback throughout the program.

The project is expected to wrap in the fall of 2027. The results will be shared with council, along with recommendations on whether to continue, modify or expand the 40 kilometre an hour program.