Skip to content

LETTER: Speed reduction targets publicity, not safety

The 30 km/h speed limit as envisioned for residential roads is moronic. Example in Saanich, Boulderwood Drive has lines painted, while Ambelwood Drive, the wider main thoroughfare, connecting Royal Oak Drive to Cordova Ridge, does not.
24642600_web1_letters-AUB-200306-T

The 30 km/h speed limit as envisioned for residential roads is moronic. Example in Saanich, Boulderwood Drive has lines painted, while Ambelwood Drive, the wider main thoroughfare, connecting Royal Oak Drive to Cordova Ridge, does not.

Boulderwood Drive, formerly a dead-end road, is steeper, narrower, a more winding road, with more blind driveways, more side roads connecting to it, that has a park and hiking trails and many recorded crashes. Hence the need for lines. Now council has decided it’s more safe to have a higher speed limit on Boulerwood than Ambelwood.

Does council always make knee-jerk decisions based on email numbers? Seems so. The well-connected cycling coalition seems to run this and other councils. It’s pathetic there is an 18 mph/30km/h speed limit for cars but bicycles can and do go faster. The only thing I have had close calls with are the rude and arrogant spandex warriors on their $3,000 bikes. I’m sure we will see more Saanich News photo ops on this issue from our esteemed leader.

This policy will force drivers onto the road that is less suitable and prone to historical accidents. The policies are based on getting publicity and not on what’s good for the public. With an aging population we are investing in bicycle transportation and lowering speed limits to accommodate them, truly moronic policy.

Doug Coulson

Saanich