Springfield Road in Kelowna, BC by 2011 had become one of the community’s highest collision frequency corridors over the past decade. Analysis of the types of collisions occurring at the corridor intersections indicated an over-representation of collision types associated with excessive speed. Speed studies were conducted that identified an 85 percentile speed of 71 km/h on this corridor that is posted at 50 km/h. These results reflected the growing number of complaints from area residents regarding unsafe speeds.
Springfield Road is a four-lane arterial roadway with bike lanes and sidewalks on both sides. It is a key commuter route into the City Centre, but also serves local access as residential lands have access onto the roadway. The multi-function needs of the corridor increases the importance of compliance to appropriate posted speeds.
It was understood that a concerted effort utilizing a ‘5E’ approach – Engineering, Encouragement, Education, Enforcement and Evaluation – was needed to reduce speeds.
A working group of City staff, RCMP, and the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) was struck to develop an Integrated Speed Reduction Plan. The resulting plan consisted of:
Engineering
A ‘Green Wave’ of signal timings based on the posted speed limit
Speed reader board installations
Red ‘50’ box markings at the start of the corridor
Speed activated red light signal
Encouragement
Increased SpeedWatch activity
Speed reader board monitoring
Red ’50’ markings
Enforcement
Enhanced enforcement plan
3 strikes and you’re out’ initiative
Education
Green Wave’ signage and Media launch
Web site development
Earned Media
Evaluation
Speed measurements
Collision tracking
Public response
The program results highlight how driving behaviour be influenced by coordinating efforts of partnering agencies and integrating speed reduction strategies. All measures are highly visible and have reduced the frequency of complaints from area residents. Implementation of the 5E measures has resulted in a 7% reduction of the 85th percentile speeds and 8% reduction in 50th percentile speeds. The speed reductions have been sustained over the past three years.
Future evaluation will include the continuation of corridor speed monitoring. In addition, an evaluation of the impact of the measures on addressing collisions is currently being undertaken by the University of British Columbia – Okanagan and should be available by year end.
