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Homemade speed limit signs pop up around B.C. city

Greater Victoria residents set their own limits
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(Twitter)

Saanich residents are increasingly taking traffic safety into their own hands — and the municipality is not exactly averse to this agenda, provided it does not run afoul of municipal regulations.

An informal survey around the community shows that a number of residents have put up hand-crafted signs designed to encourage drivers to slow down.

RELATED: Saanich seeks power to lower speed limits

“Saanich supports neighbourhood based initiatives that promotes the community, raises the awareness of vulnerable road users and encourages drivers to reduce speeds,” said Harley Machielse, Saanich’s director of engineering. “It’s important for residents to contact the municipality prior to undertaking any such initiative to ensure the activities are safe and in accordance to municipal regulations. Posting signs that could distract drivers or replicate traffic control devices (such as speed limits) is not permitted unless being placed on private strata roads.”

While these efforts are not necessarily new, they appear during a period of growing concern about road safety. Residents of Ash Road, for example, have launched a number of personal initiatives to ensure public road safety following a serious collision that left an 11-year-old Saanich girl in an “unresponsive” state, but not always with the blessing of Saanich police as one resident found out this summer.

RELATED: Saanich man’s concern for Ash Road safety draws police response

RELATED: Family won’t give up on unresponsive 11-year-old crash victim

When Gerry Tearoe was tracking traffic along Ash Road, while wearing a yellow safety vest and a clipboard, two police officers arrived to talk with Tearoe, after they received complaints about Tearoe distracting drivers.

“I’m just responding to a citizen, who has complained,” said Sgt. Alan Kurzinski of Saanich Police. “They have got concerns. So I’m just out here to identify you and make sure you are OK and you are safe and you are not doing anything wrong out here. And from the looks of it, I don’t think so.”


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wolfgang.depner@saanichnews.com

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This speed limit sign appears on Crossandra Crescent near Carey Road. Courtesy of Teale Phelps Bondaroff.
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A number of informal speed limit signs have popped up around Saanich. Courtesy of Teale Phelps Bondaroff.


Wolf Depner

About the Author: Wolf Depner

I joined the national team with Black Press Media in 2023 from the Peninsula News Review, where I had reported on Vancouver Island's Saanich Peninsula since 2019.
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