letter to winnipeg police-speed reduction signing

8/3/2019 Letter to Winnipeg Police-Speed Reduction Signing

1/4

September 4, 2011

Winnipeg Police Service

P.O. Box 1680

Winnipeg, Man

R3C 2Z7

Dear Winnipeg Police,

RE: SPEED REDUCTIONS

Over the past few years, I have noticed the WPS aggressively enforcing speed limits throughout the City of

Winnipeg. A great number of these enforcement locations are on major-arterial divided roads on stretches that

happen to be after a speed limit reduction. Some examples are, Brookside Blvd southbound (SB) approaching

Inkster (100-90 reduction at north city limits), McPhillips SB approaching Storie Road (90-80 reduction at

north city limits), Keneston SB at Carpathia (70-50 reduction at Academy), Keneston NB at Carpathia (60-50

reduction at Grant), Osborne NB at Ashland (70-50 reduction at Montgomery), Dugald EB and WB at Plessis

(70-50 reduction for both directions).

The variable common to all of these locations is that they are after speed reductions that are not adequate forthe geometry of the road. The most prominent issue is the signs are on the right side of the road only despite

these all being divided roadways. There needs to be secondary signs on the medians so that traffic in the

median lane(s) dont have their view of the speed reduction blocked by larger vehicles in the curb lane(s).

Dual mounting or Double Signing are the terms used by traffic engineers for this practice. The City of

Winnipeg has failed to dual sign every speed reduction citywide despite the prominent utilization of this

practice for much less imperative signs such as curve ahead or city route signs and often on roads with far

fewer lanes then some speed reduction locations. For example, the dual signed not a truck route signs on

Jefferson EB at McPhillips serve only one lane of traffic and the speed reduction on Main NB at Assiniboine

which is only signed on the right serves four lanes of through traffic. It is no coincidence that the Main Street

speed reduction is prior to the Citys most profitable speed camera at Logan (See Pictures 1-2). Due to the rule

of Slower Traffic Keep Right, since larger vehicles are often the slower moving vehicles, they are most often

found in the shoulder lane(s) with the faster moving traffic in the median lane(s). This means that the traffic

that most needs to see the speed reduction is often in the median lane and has their view blocked by the largerslower moving vehicles in the curb lane further extending the need to dual sign at speed reduction. (See Picture

3) While doing a brief comparison across Canada, I was unable to find any other cities that do not utilize this

dual signing practice for speed limits, but I was able to confirm that Windsor, Regina, Saskatoon, Calgary and

Edmonton all do dual sign speed limit signs. Even within our own province, dual signed speed reductions are

very common outside the City of Winnipegs jurisdiction such as on the Perimeter Hwy(See Pictures 4-5).

Oversized refers to the placement of a sign that is of dimensions larger then the minimum sized found in the

Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) which is the standards manual used by cities across the

country. The MUTCD minimum dimensions for a speed limit sign is 60x75cm with an encouragement to use

larger signs as necessary. All City of Winnipeg speed limit signs are this minimum sized despite a massive

number of oversized installations for other signs ranging from no stopping to curve ahead (See Picture 6).

Manitoba Dept of Highways (MIT) has a policy and practice of placing 90x120cm speed limit signs on all

divided roadways to increase visibility (See Picture 5).

Many speed reduction signs in the city are also higher then the MUTCD 3m maximum and farther of the road

then the 2m allowed in the MUTCD or the 3m allowed by city policy. The extremes were Regent EB

approaching Plessis where the sign measured 4.3m high (1.3m higher then the 3m maximum) and Corydon EB

at Kelvin where the signs are 5.9m from the edge of the road (2.9m farther then the 3m maximum). These

extreme vertical and lateral measurements are not an isolated problem, but is actually prominent throughout

the whole city. Again all Dept of Highways signs outside the city are placed at a height of 2.1m and within 2m

of the road which is fully compliant with all standards (See Picture 7).


2/4

2 April 19, 2013

Dual and oversized signs not only creates a fair location to conduct enforcement, it also greatly improves the

safety of the road. Maximum 50 signs are not placed after a speed reduction to 50 because of the 50 unless

otherwise posted rule leaving a speed reduction to 50 as the only means to inform motorists of the lower

speed. A great amount of infrastructure is dependent on the speed limit. The City of Winnipegs internal

signing manual specifies that pedestrian crossings are to be signed with warning signs in speed zones of 60 and

higher and dual signed on divided roads. School zone signs in 60 and higher zones are 75x75cm and 60x60cm

in 50 zones and are dual signed on all divided roads. Taking these policies into consideration, one road I choseto study was Corydon. For EB Corydon, there is a speed reduction at Kelvin Ave which is signed only on the

right side of the road on light standards that measured 5.9m from the edge of the road. Continuing on

Corydon EB there are a total of four school zones and ten pedestrian crosswalks before Pembina Hwy. All of

these school zones are signed with 60x60cm signs and the crosswalks all lack advance warning signs due to this

being a 50 zone; a zone entirely dependent on the speed reduction at Kelvin. This one example is indicative of

the citywide issue and demonstrates the need to have fully visible speed reduction signing.

These issues seriously call into question the enforceabilityof many of the WPSs enforcement locations The

WPS claims to fully care about the publics safety through the just slow down campaign which can only be

fully effective with proper signing. People cannot be expected to slow down unless they have proper signing

telling them to do so. When I confronted a WPS officer conducting one of these speed traps, his response to

these issues was nothing more then to say that people shouldnt drive beside large trucks. This is a grossly

inadequate answer and I wish to ask the police service how the average motorist is expected to see these speedlimit signs when not even minimum standards are met and how the WPS and City can claim that enforcement

is not a cash grab when no other measures are taken to improve safety. When motorists drive past these

inadequate speed limit reductions and see WPS enforcing, it is not the opinion of Public Works that is tainted

as much as that of the WPS who are seen as the ones exploiting these signs. For these reasons, I ask the WPS

to please commission public works to review all speed limit reductions in the city, move any signs that do not

meet placement requirements and to change all reduction signs on arterial and truck routes to oversized and to

dual sign all reductions on divided roadways. I wish to be informed on what measures the WPS is taking with

public works to address these issues. Thank you for your time and I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Chris Sweryda

cc: National Motorist Associationcc: Manitoba Public Insurancecc: Transportation Association of Canadacc: Winnipeg Media Outlets


3/4

3 April 19, 2013

Pictures and Diagrams

Picture 1:

Main Street NB fromAssiniboine with speed signon right side only for fourlanes of through traffic.

Pictures 2A & B:Dual signed not a truck route

(RB62) and dual signed-oversized No Exit signs.Jefferson EB at McPhillipsand Seven Oaks EB at Main.Both are for a single lane of

traffic.

Picture 3:Large vehicle in curb lane

blocking vehicles in medianlane from seeing speedreduction sign that is postedon the right side only.


4/4

4 April 19, 2013

Picture 4:Dual signed speed limit signsin Calgary Alta.(Google Streetview)

Picture 5:Dual signed MIT signs onNorth Perimeter Hwy WBeast of Pipeline Road.(Google Streetview)

Pictures 7A-C:Top of cross-bar indicates3m maximum height allowedin MUTCD. The 60 signbefore the reduction is atperfect height, but the 50sign for the reduction northof Assiniboine is too high onMain NB.

Picture 6:Curve ahead signs onWaverley SB north ofScurfield are dual signed andoversized.

letter to winnipeg police-speed reduction signing

Documents