The City of Regina is introducing new Traffic Calming curbs, pre-made concrete slabs that are placed on the road to replace speed bumps where pedestrian safety is a concern.
Director of Roadways and Transportation Chris Warren says that the curbs will result in safer intersections for everyone.
“It’s basically a yellow concrete slab that we can place at various locations, mainly in intersections to encourage drivers to travel at reduced speeds, improving behaviour at intersections, and shortening the crossing distance for pedestrians,” said Warren.
Starting Monday, crews will be removing the existing speed bumps on Whelan Drive by MacNeil School, and on Tuesday, the new curbs will be installed.
Warren says the city decided to implement the new TC curbs to serve as an alternative to speed bumps, which he adds don’t always work that well.
“Speed bumps, they don’t always act as intended, they actually can increase some of the hazards and risky driver behaviour as motorists tend to accelerate rapidly in between them,” said Warren. “It can also cause concern with emergency vehicles; they have to slow down tremendously to ensure they don’t damage their heavy equipment. Research and best practices say that speed bumps might not be the best option out there.”
Warren says that Whelan Road is the only place the curbs will be installed for now, adding that the city wants to see the results before building others.
“Could be opportunities out there to implement these types of traffic calming measures in other areas, and as we collect the data and collect feedback from the school, the residents, the pedestrians in this area, and the speeds,” said Warren. “This is something that we could definitely implement in other areas.”
The City is warning drivers that they may want to consider alternate routes as traffic will be detoured during the work.
