People who live in the area by St. Vital Road say they have concerns about safety because of speedy drivers entering the neighbourhood.
Residents along St. Vital Road and River Road said Tuesday they believe drivers are not complying with the area’s speed limit and feel it’s becoming increasingly dangerous for homeowners and pedestrians because of speedy cars.
“They’re passing people who are going perhaps 50 (km/h)…and doing 80 to 85 kilometres per hour,” said Mike Nadwidny, a 10-year resident on St. Vital Road.
“It’s exceptionally dangerous.”
Resident said concerns come after the Winnipeg Police Service said a collision, involving a vehicle and a motorcycle, happened at St. Vital Road and Dunkirk Drive. Both drivers were taken to hospital.
Nadwidny said the street is very busy and the high volume of traffic is likely due to drivers using the road as another option to get on and off of Bishop Grandin Boulevard. He said the area has no signage, few stop signs and believes the streets become narrow when cars are parked on the side.
He’s calling for speed limit signage to go up on the street.
“It’s only going to be a matter of time before somebody gets hit and hurt,” Nadwidny said.
St. Vital Coun. Brian Mayes said he’s aware of the residential concerns for speeding and safety and studies were conducted in 2017 and 2018 about the issue.
“It didn’t recommend any changes in speed limits,” Mayes said, referring to a 2017 traffic study.
Mayes added that in 2018, the city looked into putting a stop sign at St. Vital Road and Pulberry Street, but that did not materialize. He said bump-outs were installed in 2013 and s people did not like them.
But Mayes doesn’t blame people for their concerns.
“How do we make things a little safer? Certainly signage would be the lowest cost alternative,” he said.
In July, council instructed city officials to analyze speed reductions on all residential streets and Mayes expects to re-visit the topic in the fall.
According to Manitoba Public Insurance, from 2014 to 2018, 511 crashes occurred on St. Vital Road and River Road, however a bulk of those collisions happened at River and Bishop Grandin Boulevard.
