REGINA — Starting Monday, the City of Regina will introduce its first Community Safety Zone in the Cathedral neighbourhood to improve road safety.
These zones will have a reduced speed limit of 40 km/h. Chris Warren, director of Roadways and Transportation for the City of Regina, emphasized the importance of this initiative, saying in a media release, “These new community safety zones provide us an opportunity to improve road safety with additional measures for specific areas in the city.”
New signs have been installed at all entrances and exits of the Cathedral Community Safety Zone to inform residents about the reduced speed limit. The Regina Police Service will begin enforcing the reduced speed limit Aug. 12. Sgt. Shannon Gordon of the Regina Police Service said in the release, “Anytime we can decrease a vehicle’s speed we increase reaction time for both the driver and other users of the roadway. Equally as important, by decreasing speed we dramatically increase survivability and decrease the severity of injury if contact is made with a pedestrian or cyclist.”
Statistics show that reducing the speed limit from 50 km/h to 40 km/h decreases the likelihood of fatality in the event of an accident from 85 per cent to 30 per cent. Community safety zones are part of Vision Zero, an action plan aimed at enhancing road safety through collaboration between the city and community partners.
Jonathan Lorenc, chair of the Cathedral Area Community Association, expressed excitement about the collaboration, saying, “The community safety zone will help make Cathedral a more comfortable and safer place for residents and visitors alike to enjoy our local businesses, parks, and amenities.”
School zones will remain at 30 km/h across the city, including within the Cathedral area. School zones are also marked with signage.
