Council approves plan to reduce speed limit to 40 km/hr across Cambridge

Cambridge council approved the planned roll out of a 10 km/hr speed limit reduction on the city's residential streets last night.

Work will begin this spring to reduce speed limits to 40km/hr on select city streets over the next two years.

Residents will notice new 40km/hr speed signs going up on many streets that previously saw speed limits of 50km/hr and some school zones will also see limits changed to 30km/hr. Changes do not apply to regional roads.

“Lowering the speed limit to 40km/hr on our municipal roads isn’t just about reducing speed,” said Mayor Jan Liggett in a press release.

“It’s about our commitment to prioritizing safety and fostering a sense of community. No family should have to deal with the pain and aftermath of injuries due to speeding. This change helps ensure that every journey, no matter how short, ends safely.”

The move to lower speed limits follows a pilot project in 2021 that studied the benefits of reducing speed limits in four city neighbourhoods. The results showed speed was reduced by as much as 5.1 per cent.  

“Slowing down provides drivers with much needed time to react to unexpected situations – like a child darting out onto the road,” said Staff Sergeant Scott Griffiths of the Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) Traffic Services Unit. 

“Reducing your speed can mean the difference between life, death or a life changing injury.”

Speed limits will be reduced in phases over the next two years, at a budgeted amount of approximately $589,000.

Work includes new signage, removal of old signage, and installation throughout the city.

This amount will be divided between the implementation years of 2024 and 2025, with all changes anticipated to be complete by fall 2025. 

Although the speed limit reduction does not include regional roads, the Region of Waterloo is expanding its existing Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) program to four new Cambridge locations by the end of this year, including along Myers Road, Holiday Inn Drive, Saginaw Parkway and Avenue Road.

The new ASE locations are an addition to locations that already exist on Guelph Avenue and Elgin Street North and are part of the Region’s goal to have cameras at all Waterloo Region School zones by 2029.

To learn more about the 40km/hr speed limit changes and to view a map of where the changes will take place, visit cambridge.ca/speedlimits