James Bay residents say lower speed limits no good without enforcement

While many James Bay residents welcome the city’s strategy of slowing traffic by reducing speed limits, the proof of whether it works they say, will be in the patrolling.

Last week, Victoria’s city council rubber-stamped its plan to continue knocking down speed limits to 40 km/hr from 50 and to 30 km/hr from 40, but the James Bay Neighbourhood Association (JBNA) says it also needs police handing out tickets to minimize the number of vehicles going too fast.

“While the JBNA supports the city's policy to reduce speed limits on residential streets, the proposed changes do not reach far enough,” says Trevor Moat, the JBNA president.

“No reductions in speed limits for Oswego or Douglas streets are planned.”

Oswego and Douglas are two of James Bay’s main north-south artilleries to the Inner Harbour and downtown for traffic flowing from Ogden Point. The JBNA contends drivers often use the two streets to hit the gas and make up time.

Last year, in conjunction with a UVic study on the environmental impact of cruise ships, the JBNA engaged a traffic data collection consultancy to help with a separate study of neighborhood traffic patterns.

The company deployed traffic counters on several James Bay streets and found an increase in the number of vehicles speeding through the neighbourhood during cruise ship season.

Oswego attracts a lot of vehicles headed downtown

“The highest incidence of vehicles exceeding a 50 km/h speed limit occurs on Oswego St. during the hours 8pm to 11pm when three ships are in port,” the JBNA wrote in a letter to the mayor and council.

According to the study, on one stretch of Oswego, north of Ontario, on average seven vehicles exceed the speed limit every 15 minutes when ships are in port compared with one vehicle speeding when there aren’t any ships at Ogden.

“Oswego is a route favoured by taxis taking passengers to and from the cruise ships from downtown,” Bob Vander Steen, a long-serving JBNA board member and author of the traffic study told Capital Daily in a text message.

“We would like all of Oswego to have the 30 km/hr restriction.”

It doesn’t look like that is going to happen.

According to the city’s proposed speed-limit changes, with the exception of a small stretch by the James Bay Community School and community centre which is a 30 km/hr zone, Oswego will continue to be 40 km/hr from the water at Dallas to Belleville at the Inner Harbour.

And then there's Douglas

The report also singled out Douglas, the beginning of the Trans Canada Highway: “There is excessive speeding on Douglas St. where there is a 40 km/h speed limit.”

The city’s speed limit map indicates Douglas will remain at 40 through the downtown core with the exception of a few blocks in the vicinity of South Park Family School where it’s 30 km/hr. Douglas, along with a parallel stretch of Blanshard will be the sole 50 km/hr zones in the city once the changes are completed in about two years.

But back to James Bay, where the JBNA says the city can do much better.

“In the absence of increased monitoring and enforcement, the risks to residents' safety in James Bay due to speeding associated with the cruise industry remain of concern,” the association wrote to the council.

“For years as a James Bay resident, many of us have complained about racing cabs during tourist season,” reader Lorraine Stundon wrote Capital Daily in an email.

“The evening, short stops by cruise ships have only enhanced this problem.”

Caradonna says a combination is needed

Victoria Coun. Jeremy Caradonna, the city’s James Bay liaison, calls it “unequivocal” that lower speed limits reduce the number and severity of collisions, especially with pedestrians.

“But enforcement must be part of the mix,” he said in an email to Capital Daily.

“I would like to see more active traffic enforcement by police, not only for taxis, but for all vehicles, to ensure safety for all Victoria.”

Capital Daily asked VicPD how it decides to use its resources to enforce speed regulations—although admittedly, it didn’t specifically ask whether the police service planned to beef up patrols on Oswego and Douglas during the cruise ship season. A police spokesperson said VicPD “focuses enforcement on high-risk areas and dangerous behaviours.”

For example, the spokesperson said, VicPD sent more resources to school zones when children returned to class in September, and will increase enforcement targeting impaired drivers throughout the holiday season.

“If there's a problematic area or a specific incident, it's important that your readers file a police report either online or by contacting our non-emergency phone line,” they said.

Council says it's pushed for more enforcement

Coun. Dave Thompson said VicPD “makes all decisions about where, when, how, and whether to enforce,” although he tells Capital Daily: “We have told the chief that we would like to see more traffic enforcement.”

Thompson backs another of the JBNA recommendations to the council: and that's to use speed cameras to deter speeders.

“One thing that would really help to reduce speeds, boost safety, reduce costs, and allow police to allocate resources more effectively would be expansion of the Intersection Safety Camera (ISC) program.”

The ISC program operates 140 digital cameras at high-risk intersections throughout the province to catch—and deter—drivers from running red lights.

One-quarter—35—of them also are used to record speeding.

The city has only one of these cameras in use. It’s at Shelbourne and Hillside.

Six cameras currently are being used on the Island—two in the CRD. The other is in Saanich at the intersection of the TCH and Tillicum.

‍ More from the study

The JBNA report concedes that “In general, higher traffic volume reduces the potential for speeding.”

However, on Oswego and Douglas, the race to shuttle tourists to and from Ogden Point persists.

The study found when three ships are in port, Oswego had the most traffic and the most speeders—”approximately 25 vehicles an hour exceed the speed limit.”

On Douglas—regardless of whether ships were in port—40% of vehicles were speeding during the study period in May 2023, the report said.

Among other recommendations, the JBNA asked the city to: “Make James Bay a priority for the implementation of the 30 km/h speed limit on ALL streets classified as “Local.”

Scenic Dallas will see change

The JBNA report also recommended the city reduce the 50 km/hr speed limit on Dallas to 40 km/hr.

It said on average when ships are in port, 77 vehicles use Dallas south of Simco, compared with 29 when there aren’t any ships in port.

On this ask, it looks like the JBNA will get what it wants—eventually.

In an email to Capital Daily, City of Victoria spokesperson Colleen Mycroft said: “Dallas Road is planned to see a reduction to 40 km/hr,” although she gave no timeframe.

“Until Dallas Road is signed at 40 km/hr, the speed limit will remain at the default of 50 km/hr,” she wrote.