By Alan Bolstad, RCL Civics Director
Council's decision in March to reduce speed limits on residential roads throughout the city to 40 km/h from 50 km/h followed the recommendation of both its administration and Edmonton Police Service.
Collector roads, like 76 Avenue and 96 Street in Ritchie, were excluded and will remain at 50 km/h.
Ritchie Community League, along with the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues, had asked the city to reduce the speed limit to 30 km/h on residential roads and to 40 km/h on minor, two-lane collector roads like 96 Street and 76 Avenue.
Council didn't attempt to deal with minor collector roads. However, a proposal to drop the residential road speed limit to 30 km/h was put forward by Councillor Andrew Knack and supported by Mayor Don Iveson and Councillors Scott McKeen, Ben Henderson and Aaron Paquette. City administration and Edmonton Police Service opposed this change saying lt would lead to more complaints than they were prepared to handle. Consequently, this proposal failed on a vote of 8-5.
Councillors Bev Esslinger, Michael Walters and Sarah Hamilton opposed the move to 30 km/h but supported the change to 40 km/h, leading to a vote of 8-5 in favor. The other councillors, including Councillor Mike Nickel, who represents Ritchie, voted against all changes to the existing speed limits.