Saskatoon online survey finds majority do not want to see slower residential speed limits

An online survey performed by the City of Saskatoon found that a majority of respondents were not interested in lower speed limits.

The online survey, which was completed by 14,970 people, showed 65 per cent of people wanted speed limits to stay the same on all streets.

The city also hired a third-party company to run a separate telephone and online survey of 414 people, which found 52 per cent of those surveyed wanted a speed limit lower than 50 km/h on local streets.

The survey is part of an engagement process as the city performs a neighbourhood traffic review looking at crash rates and speed limits.

The review is looking at the possibility of lowering the speed limit in residential areas from 50 km/h down to 40 km/h or 30 km/h.

The review is also looking at changing the speed limit in school zones, and establishing playground zones as well as zones where there are a lot of seniors.

The report also compiled statistics on crashes in the city. From 2015 to 2019, there were a total of 38,049 collisions, resulting in 27 deaths and 217 severe injuries on city streets.

Thirty-seven per cent of those crashes happened in residential areas.

The information will be presented to councillors at the city's transportation committee on Monday. A final report with recommendations will be heading to councillors in August.