Letter dated March 11, 2020 from Mayor Haynes, District of Saanich, Re: Invitation to Collaborate on BC Motor Vehicle Act Pilot Project

Invitation to collaborate on BC Motor Vehicle Act Pilot Project

March 11, 2020

Mayor & Council Town of View Royal 45 View Royal Avenue Victoria, BC V9B 1A6

VIA EMAIL: mayorscreech@viewroyal.ca

Dear Mayor Screech & Council:

RE: Invitation to collaborate on BC Motor Vehicle Act Pilot Project

As you may be aware, on November 25, 2019, Saanich Council in open meeting sent a letter to Premier John Horgan requesting a review of the default speed limits defined in the Motor Vehicle Act (MVA). Our community has, as does yours, a vast number of residential roads. Many of these are without sidewalks and it is simply inappropriate for a driver to legally operate their vehicle at 50km/h with children walking and cycling on the same road.

While it is technically and legally possible to create bylaws and install signage on each of these roads, it would be far easier to update the MVA and begin a cultural shift that prioritizes safety, over speeding, on roads that should place families and our most vulnerable users first.

On February 6, we received a response from the Honourable Claire Trevena, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, that outlines the potential for two phases of pilot projects in the area of road safety which would be enabled through regulation under the provisions in part 13 of the MVA. These pilot projects would be initiated by local government through an application process to the Ministry. The first phase pilot project has been selected and focuses on the use of zero emission mobility devices and involves micro-mobility devices (sidewalk scooters, skateboards, etc.). More germane to the issue of road speeds, the second phase includes pilot projects where the Ministry will "work with interested municipalities to lower the default speed limit on their streets." Please see letter, attached.

As there is no longer time to wait, we are asking our staff to begin work on forming a proposal to the Ministry that would set the statutory speed limit to 40km/h on streets without a yellow centreline (residential roads) for Phase 2 of the pilot program. To highlight the regional importance of the issue and to maintain consistency we ask that you consider joining in this proposal development and including your Municipality in the pilot project. We appreciate that you may already have approaches in line with this. My staff and I would be pleased to meet with you about this proposal at your convenience and request. Ideally a regional or sub regional approach may be possible.

We will be holding a series of meetings with technical staff in the second quarter of this year. If you are supportive of this initiative, please ask your senior staff to reach out to our Engineering Department for an invitation to join these meetings. The purpose of these meetings would be to discuss the opportunities, challenges, alternatives, and risks of this proposal prior to when the next round of applications are due, likely in the third quarter of this year.

Like us, your streets are your products and the time to support our most vulnerable transportation users is now. Please consider joining us in taking a leadership role to make meaningful change to improve road safety for all residents across the region.

Sincerely,

Fred Haynes Mayor

Attachment

cc: Saanich Council Paul Thorkelsson, CAO Harley Machielse, Director of Engineering