Vernon road to stay 60 km/h, despite councillor’s concern

Feb 28, 2023 | 1:51 PM

Silver Star Road will stay as a 60 km/h speed zone, despite concerns voiced by a Vernon councillor.

At the regular meeting Monday, Feb. 27, council heard the 60 km/h speed zone implemented in 2022 as part of the Silver Star Road multi-use pathway project, excluding the 30 km/h school zone at BX Elementary, aligned with the Transportation Association of Canada’s (TAC) guidelines for establishing speed limits.

A speed limit review by city staff was conducted on the road in 2020 and 2021 and found the 60 km/h limit was suitable based on road characteristics including horizontal and vertical alignment, average lane width, roadside hazards, pedestrian and cyclist exposure, pavement surface, number of intersections and interchanges, and on-street parking.

Speed data was also collected before the change was implemented and it was noted 85 per cent of people driving on Silver Star Road travelled at a speed of 80 km/h or slower, though an average speed was not identified in the study.

“The measured 85th percentile speed is the industry standard used to gauge how motorists perceive the road” stated the report to council. “While the speed limit of 60 km/h aligns with TAC guidelines, it also aligns more closely with how motorists perceive the road.”

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Given that there have been people travelling over the speed limit, city staff have requested RCMP conduct speed enforcement along the road.

Staff have also been working on road improvements including the multi-use pathway, which will separate pedestrians and active transportation users from vehicles; vehicle activated speed signs at the school zones and south of Foothills Dr.; a centre median at BX Elementary; a centre median between Blackcomb Way and Phoenix Dr.; and a proposed roundabout at the intersection of Phoenix Drive and Silver Star Road.

Though the report stated 60 km/h was a suitable limit for the road, considering all the variables and improvements, Councillor Akbal Mund disagreed.

He stated some area highways are not aligned with the TAC guidelines. Specifically, Mund pointed out the highway from Vernon to Kelowna is two lanes, has multiple access points, very few interchanges and is 90 km/h, while the road from Vernon to Enderby has a 100 km/h limit despite having many residential accesses and many interchanges.

Mund added Silver Star Road is part of a growing area with a facility for Sky Volleyball that attracts a lot of families, new housing developments, residential driveways along the roadway, and a only few intersections where residents in area neighbourhoods can turn onto the road and head into the city.

He stated anecdotally that drivers are exceeding the speed limit, with vehicles coming down from the Foothills neighbourhood sometimes reaching 70 or 75 km/h and vehicles going up the hill hitting 80 km/h.

“Therefore, what I’d like to do, is make a motion to take the speed limit back down to 50 km/h as it was for most of those sections and keep it 50 from Phoenix Drive all the way down to Butcher Boys (Pleasant Valley Road),” Mund said at the meeting.

Mund added he doesn’t think the 60 km/h limit “would be safe for the amount of development that’s going on for Silver Star Road right now and everybody turning left and right and blind corners.”

City staff noted a transportation engineering consultant could be tasked with conducting another review of the speeds for the road, stating that would cost approximately $15,000.

Councillor Brian Guy stated he believed the new limit, based on the study, was suitable, and Councillor Brian Quiring said, while he could support the limit being lowered to 50 between Butcher Boys and BX Elementary, he felt the 60 km/h limit is suitable for other parts of the road that extends all the way to SilverStar Mountain Resort.

Mayor Victor Cumming responded to Mund’s points by stating some planned projects along that area will offset some of those issues.

“We’re going to have, if the capital project goes ahead in 2023, the lower fixing of the connection of L&A Road and the off-road (multi-use) trail. We’ll experience very low speeds between the school and [Pleasant Valley] Road all during 2023 and well into 2024 if the time it takes to construct that is similar to what we experienced on, let’s call it the northern section or the more easterly section,” Cumming said.

“So I think this issue will be addressed by the construction here in 2023 and my suggestion is that we leave it as it is for now knowing that this construction is going to be underway, knowing that we are building the off-road trail, and review this in 2024 after the road has been upgraded and the off-road trail has been installed.”

He said he believes the multi-use pathway will improve safety for walkers, cyclists and other active transportation users in the area, adding council could arrange for another transportation review of the road following the completion of the project if necessary.

Cumming also noted a roundabout proposed to be built at the intersection of Phoenix Dr. and Silver Star Road north of BX Elementary, will result in drivers slowing down to navigate the traffic control measure. That project is scheduled for 2025.

Mund’s motion to reduce the speed limit was put to a vote, where it was defeated four to two with Councillors Mund and Kari Gares voting in favour of the change.

Councillor Kelly Fehr was not present at Monday’s meeting.

by Liam Verster

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