Speed limits in QTN will soon be lowered to 30km/h. This has been done in many neighbourhoods across Ottawa, and now this change is coming to our community. We are posting about this to raise awareness of this change to come, and to explain the benefits of slowing down.
Why 30 km/h?
- 30 km/h is a neighbourly speed. It narrows the gap between the speed of vehicles and people, so it feels more comfortable to be walking and rolling, especially when there are no sidewalks on so many of our streets.
- 30 km/h is a speed which gives us all time to react to kids appearing suddenly in front of us, or a pedestrian appearing out of the dark.
- 30 km/h is a speed at which you can make eye contact and wave hi to people, rather than realizing half a block later that you recognized them!
If the worst does happen, 30 km/h is also a speed at which injuries are greatly reduced compared to 50 km/h, or even 40 km/h.
Although it can feel slow for us when we are driving, it’s a new habit we can all get into. It really only adds a minute to your drive, and makes such a difference to our neighbours and in how we experience our surroundings.
What can you expect from the new limit?
- new signs will be posted at the entrances to the neighborhood
- the streets won’t change, so other than the entrance signs, there won’t be new cues to change your habits
- driving at 30 km/h can take extra focus while you adjust habits
- it will take time for people to get used to the new speed, please be understanding