Speed limits lowering in northwest neighbourhood

CONNOR LUCZKA, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A northwestern Stratford neighbourhood will be slowing down this fall.

At the July 28 Stratford city council meeting, council unanimously approved a pilot program beginning at the end of August that will see all the roads in the area between McCarthy and Huron to the north and south and Mornington and O’Loane to the east and west be reduced to 40 kilometres an hour. The area includes three schools, the Stratford Education and Recreation Centre and the Rotary Complex.

Thirty-five new gateway speed limit signs are proposed for installation at entry points to the neighbourhood area and numerous traffic studies will be conducted across it for the year the pilot project is conducted. The findings of the studies will be compared to baseline data from the 36 studies completed in the area since 2027.

Four public information signs will be installed at Hibernia Street and Forman Avenue, Mornington Street and Hibernia Street, McCarthy Road West and Greenwood Drive and O’Loane Avenue and McCarthy Road West to provide information about the pilot program and direct residents to the project’s page on Engage Stratford. Throughout the pilot period, surveys and polls will be conducted through that platform to gather feedback.

Council and city staff are considering the lowering of speed limits in residential areas for the safety of pedestrians and drivers alike. According to an earlier management report from staff, “the likelihood of survival in a collision between a vehicle and a pedestrian is approximately 40 per cent when the vehicle is travelling at 50 kilometres an hour. However, the likelihood of survival increases to 75 per cent when the vehicle is travelling at 40 kilometres an hour or below. Driving at lower speeds enables drivers to stop within a shorter distance, have a wider field of vision and provide more time to react to road hazards or other road users.”

It isn’t the first time council considered a reduction. In 2023, council considered two options: to implement a city-wide speed limit reductions in all residential areas, or to conduct a pilot project (like the one just recently approved). Council opted to table the options, meaning that no further action was to be taken at that time, until Coun. Larry McCabe reignited the discussion last fall.

The pilot project is set to end in the fall of 2027. Further notification about the program will be publicized through the Engage Stratford project page, large-format information boards at the pilot boundaries, social media posts, newspaper and radio notices and in-person outreach.