Speed limits and delaying the Bus Rapid Transit launch are two items to be discussed at the City of Saskatoon’s Transportation Committee meeting this afternoon (Tues).

Administration recommends lowering the speed limit to 40 kilometres per hour on local and collector streets in residential areas and then the Committee’s recommendation will be debated at the September 30th City Council meeting. Back in 2018, Council asked the Administration to develop a framework for revising posted speed limits on neighbourhood streets, because residents have voiced repeated concerns over speeding.

An open survey of almost 15,000 people indicated 65 per cent would prefer no change to the speed limits, but in a a third-party supplemental survey of just over 400 respondents from a cross-section of neighbourhoods 52 per cent preferred a speed limit lower than 50 km/h on local streets.

The delay for the Bus Rapid Transit project is because during the pandemic, the City wasn’t able to hold public engagement events. The General Manager of Transportation and Construction, Terry Schmidt, says the launch date was to be in June of 2025, but now the plan is to launch in June of 2026.