Is it Time to Revise Speed Limits on Certain Roads?

[faiz999]

I was discussing this with some friends last night and it seemed to me that consensus was: Speed Limits on certain roads in Calgary are much too low.

For instance: Crowchild Tr, from Crowfoot to the Stadium is 80km/h.

The problem is you have people doing 100 (which is the norm), ppl doing 90 and ppl doing 80. The issue is, the guys who are doing 80 are obstructing traffic, even though they are obeying the law.

There are more examples from other roads around the city and I'd like to hear if I'm way off base for thinking our speed limits should evolve like our cars have.

[Sugarphreak]

...

[faiz999]

^^^
exactly. it seems they aren't interested in safe driving but rather easy money through ticket revenue.

I find that often you have guys doing the speed limit religiously and then everybody else just blowing by them, sometimes in a dangerous manner, because the speed limit is too damn low.

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by faiz999

it seems they aren't interested in safe driving but rather easy money through ticket revenue.


http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n514/chichibanban/MindBlown-1.jpg

[Mitsu3000gt]

Speed limits will never be raised on roads where ticket revenue is being generated.

Dozens of roads in and around the city have artificially low speed limits specifically for the purpose of ticket revenue generation. That won't ever change.

Safety is only a concern when it can make money, or if it would lose revenue (i.e. the distracted driving law, most speed limits, etc.).

[rage2]

Originally posted by faiz999
exactly. it seems they aren't interested in safe driving but rather easy money through ticket revenue.
It's actually quite funny seeing all the usual speed trap hiding spots after the last few snowstorms, they seem to have gotten plowed along with the priority 1 roads so that cops can have access. Need to be a passenger and take some pics, the most random plow jobs on grass from the roads.

[lilmira]

Would you rather be stuck behind someone driving at 70km/h when the speed limit is 80km/h or when the speed limit is 90km/h? :dunno:

I like Crowchild in the morning, most people drive at 100km/h anyway. :burnout:

[TheStigz]

I think one that needs to be revised... is glenomre past the blackfoot exit...


It will be 80--to--60kmh before the blackfoot overpass (Construction)

Theres nothing there.. and no one obeys the 60kmh sign. Maybe the city forgot to pick up those signs? Or perhaps this a great ploy to give calgarians easy tickets by CPS. I see no evidence of on-going construction there.

[firebane]

Originally posted by Sugarphreak
I think they lowered the speed limit of the last little stretch coming out of DT on Bow trail recently.... they have now officially made it 60km all the way to Sarcee Trail :banghead:

FFS, I wish the roads department would get their fat heads out of their ass and restore it back to a consistent 70km like it used to be prior to putting the LRT in

LOL this because of the damn red light/speeding camera at Bow Trail and Spruce Drive.

I saw 3 people get nailed heading east through that intersection!

[hurrdurr]

Originally posted by TheStigz
I think one that needs to be revised... is glenomre past the blackfoot exit...


It will be 80--to--60kmh before the blackfoot overpass (Construction)

Theres nothing there.. and no one obeys the 60kmh sign. Maybe the city forgot to pick up those signs? Or perhaps this a great ploy to give calgarians easy tickets by CPS. I see no evidence of on-going construction there.

Yeah, I was going 60km/h until about a month ago when i noticed there hasn't been any construction going on forever. Lots of people still go 60 however.

[jacky4566]

Are these speed limits set by the province or the city?
Would it be possible to petition for higher limits?

[haggis88]

Originally posted by faiz999


I find that often you have guys doing the speed limit religiously and then everybody else just blowing by them, sometimes in a dangerous manner, because the speed limit is too damn low.

http://i.qkme.me/3veai2.jpg

[avishal26]

Originally posted by TheStigz
I think one that needs to be revised... is glenomre past the blackfoot exit...


It will be 80--to--60kmh before the blackfoot overpass (Construction)

Theres nothing there.. and no one obeys the 60kmh sign. Maybe the city forgot to pick up those signs? Or perhaps this a great ploy to give calgarians easy tickets by CPS. I see no evidence of on-going construction there.

Anyone with a truck want to pick up some free firewood ?? and speed limit wall art signs?? :rofl:

[faiz999]

Originally posted by haggis88


http://i.qkme.me/3veai2.jpg


LOL. i honestly was hoping someone would post that when i wrote it

[DeeK]

2BKdbxX1pDw

[haggis88]

Went to BC over Xmas there and noticed the speed limits on the highway were like 90 and 30 in residential areas...is this the same all over BC?

[DeeK]

Originally posted by haggis88
Went to BC over Xmas there and noticed the speed limits on the highway were like 90 and 30 in residential areas...is this the same all over BC?
yes.

The speed limits in Calgary are FAR more reasonable than out here. Sad part is that people drive way faster in BC, and there is zero enforcement.

Speed limit 50, avg speed 110. (residential street)

[firebane]

Originally posted by haggis88
Went to BC over Xmas there and noticed the speed limits on the highway were like 90 and 30 in residential areas...is this the same all over BC?

Its 90 because people from other provinces don't grasp the concept of curves on highways and such.

There are places in BC that when it says to 30 you slow to 30 or you'll go off the road.

[haggis88]

Originally posted by firebane


Its 90 because people from other provinces don't grasp the concept of curves on highways and such.

There are places in BC that when it says to 30 you slow to 30 or you'll go off the road.

i see!

there's a few places on 1A it says slow to 50 or 60 and there's really no need to unless you're in a semi!

[asp integra]

Even worse are the parts of certain roads where the normal speed driven by the average shitty Calgary driver are 20 less then the posted speed.

Best example is Glenmore near the 37th sw bend in the road. Limit is 80 and most go 60 around here, fucking retarded!

[haggis88]

i was behind a woman last night trying to merge onto the 110km/h part of deerfoot last night at 60km/h

is there a minimum speed limit thing enforced here?

i know on some "motorways" back home there's big signs before the on-ramps saying no vehicles that can't do minimum of 50mph (i.e agriculturals and mopeds)

[max_boost]

Ppl here can't drive.
Speed limits are too low.

Speed doesn't kill. Bad drivers kill!

[K3RMiTdot]

Originally posted by max_boost
Ppl here can't drive.
Speed limits are too low.

Speed doesn't kill. Bad drivers kill!

[FullFledgedYYC]

Speeds have nothing to do with safety. Wednesday I was driving home on Crowchild South and some dumb asian bitch in a Civic was in the left lane and decided she NEEDED the 17th ave exit... so she fucking STOPPED in the left lane, went over 1, STOPPED AGAIN, then went over 2. Almost caused 3 separate collisions.

Tell me that dumb cunt didn't just throw down a cash bribe a registry. :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

[speedog]

Originally posted by haggis88
i was behind a woman last night trying to merge onto the 110km/h part of deerfoot last night at 60km/h

is there a minimum speed limit thing enforced here?

i know on some "motorways" back home there's big signs before the on-ramps saying no vehicles that can't do minimum of 50mph (i.e agriculturals and mopeds)
No, there aren't minimum speed limits but there are statutes that can be used in cases like this. Setting a minimum 50kph speed limit wouldn't restrict a vehicle like this woman was driving because the vehicle she was driving is capable of more than that. The problem that you experienced is something we all experience on Deerfoot - minimum speed limit laws won't prevent these people from trying to drive on Deerfoot and there will never be enough police out there to stop these drivers or educate them either. It is what it is.

[revelations]

Originally posted by DeeK

yes.

The speed limits in Calgary are FAR more reasonable than out here. Sad part is that people drive way faster in BC, and there is zero enforcement.

Speed limit 50, avg speed 110. (residential street)

I remember cruising down Oak and Granville at night going 90 and that was only slightly faster than traffic. Imagine glenmore but with hundred of side streets that FOBs can pull out of between parked cars into traffic.

And yea, near zero traffic enforcement in the Vancouver city area - BurnaBY and Richmond did their own thing though.

[Maxt]

The City should take those electronic slow down guilt signs that show your speed, rejig them to show average traffic speed of the main road and install them on at the beginning of every merge ramp. That would make them a lot more useful.

[120Comm]

Originally posted by asp integra
Best example is Glenmore near the 37th sw bend in the road. Limit is 80 and most go 60 around here, fucking retarded!

The problem there is people were conditioned for months/years that (a) there was a traffic signal there (which due to its poor timing cycle was almost always red for Glenmore), and (b) during the construction of the overpass, was reduced to 50 even when workers weren't present. So people continue to slow down there to this day because they're used to hitting their brakes there.

The same kind of issue exists going northbound Deerfoot under 17th Avenue. As soon as you enter the right-hand bend, people are hitting their brakes. This is because people entering northbound from 17th are trying to merge at walking speed (and trying to co-exist with people trying to exit to Memorial).

As for higher speeds, yes, we should be doing that. Planning documents for upgrades on provincial highways are on the Alberta Ministry of Transportation website, and they mention that roads like Highway 1 (west of Calgary) are designed for 130 km/h, and Highway 8 is designed for 120 km/h. (Yet the latter we have put down to 80 km/h with traffic signals all over it - I wrote to Stelmach when he was the minister for transportation and he said the province says signals shouldn't be on main highways, but that the community organizations in Elbow Valley bought and installed the signals.)

I had a few weeks' vacation in Texas last year and spent it between Austin and the Gulf Coast. I drove the much-publicized toll road with an 85 MPH (140 km/h) posted limit, and traffic was flowing smoothly; nobody was catapulting off into the woods on fire with body parts tumbling out of the passenger compartments, and unlike the claims from anti-speed advocates, people weren't doing 95 or 100 MPH just because it was posted to 85.

There's a Facebook group I subscribe to which is for a group that is lobbying to raise the speed on the 400-series highways in southern Ontario. They have tons of documentation from various American and other locales where speed limits have been raised, and injuries/fatalities have decreased since that's been done. And, posted somewhere on this forum over the summer, there was a study in the lower mainland that advocated raising speed limits there too.

In most other places, if the 85th percentile is doing a speed significantly faster than the posted limit, they give consideration to raising the limit. In Alberta, they instead say "Wow, think of all the money we can make off them!"

[avishal26]

Originally posted by 120Comm


I had a few weeks' vacation in Texas last year and spent it between Austin and the Gulf Coast. I drove the much-publicized toll road with an 85 MPH (140 km/h) posted limit, and traffic was flowing smoothly; nobody was catapulting off into the woods on fire with body parts tumbling out of the passenger compartments, and unlike the claims from anti-speed advocates, people weren't doing 95 or 100 MPH just because it was posted to 85.

I have driven through MANY toll roads in Europe where speed limits are either not applicable or upwards of 130 kph. Conclusion - it is awesome. Very few accidents happen on those toll highways because people know the speed limits are high - people move over from even the second lane (on 3 lane highways) if they see a car coming quick behind them because thats how it is supposed to work!!! SPEED DOES NOT KILL - This city needs a proper driver education system - I was just telling my wife this morning when we saw three separate incidents of morons sliding off the road in the light snowfall we had this morning causing mayhem for everyone else who was smart enough to put winter tires on. DRIVER EDUCATION!!!


Originally posted by 120Comm

In most other places, if the 85th percentile is doing a speed significantly faster than the posted limit, they give consideration to raising the limit. In Alberta, they instead say "Wow, think of all the money we can make off them!"

THIS! Why can't we do this!! I'm this close to getting a twitter account to post this kind of stuff on Nenshi's stupid profile and enjoy the fallout from his dumb responses...

[speedog]

Originally posted by avishal26
THIS! Why can't we do this!! I'm this close to getting a twitter account to post this kind of stuff on Nenshi's stupid profile and enjoy the fallout from his dumb responses...
C'mon, it's not that difficult to sign-up for a Twitter account - just do it.

[speedog]

On topic, why isn't 16th Avenue at 60kph between 13th Street NW and 6th Street NE? It looks no different than Macleod Trail between 36th Avenue and 58th Avenue SW and in fact, 16th Ave appears to be designed quite a bit better with both the motorists and pedestrians in mind.

[frozenrice]

Originally posted by asp integra
Best example is Glenmore near the 37th sw bend in the road. Limit is 80 and most go 60 around here, fucking retarded!

I drive this stretch on my commute home and absolutely hate it. Then when you turn off to highway 8 where the limit is 80km/hr it rarely gets over 60 because it's so congested. :bullshit:



The problem there is people were conditioned for months/years that (a) there was a traffic signal there (which due to its poor timing cycle was almost always red for Glenmore), and (b) during the construction of the overpass, was reduced to 50 even when workers weren't present. So people continue to slow down there to this day because they're used to hitting their brakes there.

I think it's just dumbass drivers. I've been driving this stretch since when it used to be a controlled intersection. I hardly doubt people slow down because they're used to traffic lights being there. It's just bad drivers that don't know how to handle a curve on the road.

[J-D]

Sometimes it's not even the speed limit, but the drivers that are so used to doing something a particular way.

My personal favorite is the very extended exit lane from Deerfoot NB to Glenmore EB (the stupid loop past heritage to Glenmore WB). First, everyone slows to 60km/h on Deerfoot half a kilometer before the traffic lights... Then everybody slams on the brakes at Heritage despite the yield having been changed to a free flow lane.

:banghead:

[Supa Dexta]

How did our driving laws get so lame to begin with? when we were the first continent to have roads and cars and everything? - We should be the most experienced continent.

So many restrictions on the types of vehicles we can have and how we have to drive them. :thumbsdow

[sexualbanana]

I don't have too big of a problem with most speed limits in the city, but I think highways should be faster than 110. It was hard making the adjustment after going 130+ in Montana/Idaho then 110 in Alberta.

[faiz999]

Originally posted by sexualbanana
I don't have too big of a problem with most speed limits in the city, but I think highways should be faster than 110. It was hard making the adjustment after going 130+ in Montana/Idaho then 110 in Alberta.

Do you think its reasonable to have 3 different speeds for 3 different lanes?

For instance, 140 in the far left, 120 in the middle and 100 far right (which is really a merge/exit lane for the most part)

[btimbit]

Originally posted by faiz999


Do you think its reasonable to have 3 different speeds for 3 different lanes?

For instance, 140 in the far left, 120 in the middle and 100 far right (which is really a merge/exit lane for the most part)

Makes complete sense but I fear it's too complicated for people to work properly

[120Comm]

Originally posted by faiz999


Do you think its reasonable to have 3 different speeds for 3 different lanes?

For instance, 140 in the far left, 120 in the middle and 100 far right (which is really a merge/exit lane for the most part)

Here's another idea to throw out there.

When I was in Australia about 3 1/2 years ago, the speed signs (at least in the more urban/suburban parts of New South Wales) were digital, that is, LEDs. I'm talking about the major highways, not side or surface streets. Depending on the time of day, wx conditions, etc., they will change the speed of the road, and IIRC they had the ability to set it per-lane as well. I believe it was the A2 we traveled on several times where one day it was 120, the next day (around "peak time" which is their term for "rush hour") it was 90, and during a rainstorm a section was bumped down to 80.

[faiz999]

Originally posted by btimbit


Makes complete sense but I fear it's too complicated for people to work properly

yeah, id agree that it may be hard to implement and enforce but man would it make travel a whole lot smoother.

the fast guys get their lane, slow guys get theirs and far right is set to ppl can come on and off without fighting for position versus cars at varying speeds.

[avishal26]

Originally posted by 120Comm


Here's another idea to throw out there.

When I was in Australia about 3 1/2 years ago, the speed signs (at least in the more urban/suburban parts of New South Wales) were digital, that is, LEDs. I'm talking about the major highways, not side or surface streets. Depending on the time of day, wx conditions, etc., they will change the speed of the road, and IIRC they had the ability to set it per-lane as well. I believe it was the A2 we traveled on several times where one day it was 120, the next day (around "peak time" which is their term for "rush hour") it was 90, and during a rainstorm a section was bumped down to 80.

I've seen this in Europe as well.. But the problem is I don't think even in bone-dry conditions the government would agree to putting up 120 kph signs... lol

[Supa Dexta]

Try doing 90 on the highways in ontario and quebec.. its painful. And I see more cops in Northern ontario and thru quebec, by x10+ then the whole rest of the trip to NS.

[TheHumbleGeek]

I've been saying this for a LONG time, the alberta gov needs to set up a driver trainer certification system and make driver training mandatory prior to getting a licence. Sure, it won't prevent bad habits from forming, but at least all drivers would be guaranteed to start out with good habits and knowledge of the important basics. It would also make it easier on the cops, because then the excuse "well, i didn't know" would fly like a concrete plane...

I do agree that the speedlimits in alot of places are redonkulous. 100 on deerfoot is too slow in alot of places, but is too fast in others (that damnable pinch point northbound at glenmore where it drops to two lanes ONLY over the bridge). Now, having said that, how many of us would not notice if the speed limit signage on the main roads around our house were changed? I mean, you go home one day and its say 70, but the next morning its 80? or 60? My point is this, sure its easy to say "well, just change the sign", but unfortunately, too many people would not even notice it. It would require a fairly large amount of advertising before people would begin to realise its changed.

Fun fact, its not just the city thats in it for the revenue generation, as the province gets a percentage of all ticket revenue for use in infrastructure development.