Saskatoon's Montgomery Place neighbourhood slows to 40 km/h on Thursday
Residents hoping lower speed limit will make roads safer
Barb Biddle is grateful that traffic speeds in Montgomery Place will be slowing down soon.
Built in the 1940s for returning WWII veterans, the neighbourhood has few sidewalks and narrow streets. That means many people walk along the side of the road, creating a dangerous situation.
"Young mothers are taking their babies for walks in their strollers, and they're not feeling quite safe when they're on the roadways," said Biddle, president of the Montgomery Place Community Association. "As a result, they go down the alleys where there's no traffic."
The situation has become worse and worse over the years, as more and more cars take to the roads.
"Now we have bigger vehicles," she said. "There's the big SUVs and the big diesel trucks," she said. "And they like to leave late to work sometimes."
After lobbying city hall for the changes, Biddle is convinced the new 40 km/h speed limit will make things much safer.
"If you have a pedestrian in the way, and the driver had to put on his brakes, it takes a lot longer for that vehicle to stop when he's going 50 kilometres rather than 40."
The changes come into effect September 1st.