Don't raise highway speed limit, board hears

A provincial board heard passionate arguments Tuesday against raising the speed limit.

Traffic engineers with Manitoba Infrastructure are recommending the province raise the speed limit to 110 km/h on two of Manitoba's major routes: the Trans-Canada Highway west of Winnipeg and most of Highway 75, which connects Winnipeg with the U.S. border.

The speed limit increase would put Manitoba in line with Saskatchewan and Alberta.
 
But public support for the move wasn't in evidence Tuesday at hearings on the matter before the Highway Traffic Board in Winnipeg.
 
Several Manitobans spoke out against hiking the limit, including Bev Velestuk, whose authoritative presentation impressed the board.

Velestuk practically lives and breathes highway safety, as a Manitoba Infrastructure employee who has also worked with Manitoba Public Insurance on driver training programs. She spoke at the hearing as a private citizen.

"We want to drive fast. People want to, because it's fascinating and it's fun. But the reality is, it's dangerous," she said.

"Children sitting beside you when you're driving 110 or 120 [km/h] are getting the impression that it is acceptable, and when it comes to get their driver's licence, guess what they're going to be doing."

Proponents of the move have suggested raising the speed limit will save Manitobans time and boost the province's economy, but Velestuk argued the mathematics of the situation don't bear that out.

Travelling the 215 kilometres between Winnipeg and Brandon would save motorists less than five minutes at 110 km/h instead of 100, she said.

'We're going to increase death'

Liz Simpson agreed, asking the province to reconsider raising the limit for safety reasons. An accident on Highway 59 in the 1980s left Simpson in a wheelchair with a traumatic brain injury.

She can't understand why the province wants to raise the speed limit when its own reports acknowledge more accidents will likely happen.

"It's like a slap in the face," she said.

Manitoba's goal should be increasing its citizens' safety, "but with this increase, we're not, we're definitely not going to get any longevity. We're going to increase death," she said.

Other presenters argued raising the speed limit is a bad idea from an environmental standpoint, since travelling at faster speeds requires burning more fuel.

The Manitoba Trucking Association also opposes raising the speed limit, saying there is no question doing so will increase the number and severity of accidents.

The hearings continue Wednesday in Brandon. If approved by the board, the speed-limit change could take place by December.