Manitoba municipalities want to set speed limits on provincial roads in their communities

Posted on November 28, 2024 by Peggy

Manitoba municipalities want the final say on how fast drivers can travel through their communities on provincial roads, but the province’s transportation minister isn’t looking to relinquish control.

A resolution to grant municipalities, rather than the provincial Transportation Department, the authority to set speed limits on provincial trunk highways and provincial roads that pass through urban areas passed Wednesday at the Association of Manitoba Municipalities convention.

The association will now lobby the provincial government to make the change.

Transportation Minister Lisa Naylor said she’ll listen to municipal feedback, “but at the end of the day, the decision rests in the hands of the provincial government, who has responsibility for those roadways.”

As it stands, municipalities can adjust speed limits for roads under their authority, but the Manitoba government has the jurisdiction for provincial roads running through municipal communities.

Municipalities can request changes to speed limits on those roadways, but sometimes it takes a year or longer to hear back from the province, said Progressive Conservative transportation critic Konrad Narth, who brought up the municipal resolution on Wednesday during question period in the Manitoba Legislature.

A man wearing glasses and a light grey suit stands in the rotunda of the legislature. — Progressive Conservative MLA Konrad Narth, the party’s transportation and infrastructure critic, says municipalities can move quicker than the province in adjusting speed limits, if they feel it’s warranted. (Trevor Brine/CBC)

The resolution was put forward by the western Manitoba municipalities of Souris-Glenwood, Elton, Oakland-Wawanesa, Whitehead and the Town of Carberry.

“Municipalities, they’re able to act quicker than provincial governments. They know the importance of protecting safety within their communities, and speed zones within those communities need to be adjusted with a quick response,” Narth said in an interview afterwards.

“I think it’s important to allow municipalities that opportunity.”

Narth, who used to be a councillor in the rural municipality of Stuartburn, said most municipal requests to lower speed limits are the result of communities growing and, in turn, more drivers using the roads.

The province should let municipalities to adjust these speed limits on their own within certain parameters, he said.

Naylor said the long delays municipalities are now experiencing are a result of the former PC government dissolving the Highway Traffic Board and assigning the work of assessing speed limit requests to the Transportation Department without providing additional resources.

The NDP government is working to clear that backlog, she said.

Naylor said she’s open to hearing municipal feedback about speed limit requests, but there’s a process to follow and safety on the province’s roadways is her top consideration.

The government’s new road safety unit, established after last year’s Carberry bus crash that claimed 17 lives, also has input into all decisions around speed limit changes, she said.