Cold Lake, AB – Cold Lake City Council decided not to proceed with lowering the speed limit on residential roadways from 50 km/h.

The decision came about after council was presented a report from the community engagement process that saw feedback from 900 residents living in and around the municipality. About 94 per cent of respondents were City of Cold Lake residents, with 54 per cent saying there was no speeding issue in the city, while 46 per cent said that they felt that there was a speeding issue.

“It was clear that, even among the majority of residents who feel there is a speeding issue in the city, a speed limit reduction is not the preferred response,” Mayor Craig Copeland said. “Given the effort and the cost associated with making such a large-scale change throughout the community, council felt it would be best not to proceed any further down this road.”

Of the proposed solutions to speeding, increased enforcement was favoured by 45 per cent of respondents, vehicle activated speed signs were favoured by 36 per cent and speed calming devices were favoured by 34 per cent of respondents. A reduction in the posted speed limits was favoured by 19 per cent of respondents while 17 per cent wanted to see photo enforcement of speed limits.

The question of whether council wanted to consider reducing speed limits on residential roadways was brought forward through a notice of motion early in 2022. Council then directed administration to develop a draft implementation plan, examine the discussions and research done by other municipalities who considered a similar question, and to conduct public consultation on the issue. The public survey was open from July 4-25.

“We received a strong response to the survey and we thank everyone who made their voices heard,” Copeland said. “We looked at the issue from a number of different angles and we are confident that we can settle this issue without having to make major changes in the posted speed limits across the community.”

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