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Pilot project aimed at reducing speed limits launches in some neighbourhoods

May 29, 2025   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

If you have a bit of a lead foot, it may be time to re-think your driving habits when you are cruising the streets of Alliston.

A new speed limit pilot project has been launched, aimed at reducing speed limits in residential areas.

A new maximum speed limit of 40 kilometers per hour is now in place across several neighbourhoods.

The project will assess the effectiveness of these reduced speed limits in enhancing road safety.

As of May 2017, the Highway Traffic Act allows speed limits other than 50 kilometers per hour to be established without street-by-street signage in bounded zones. Signs stating ‘40 km/h Area Begins’ will be installed on the streets that enter the neighbourhood area and ’40 km/h Area Ends’ signs will be installed on the streets that exit the neighbourhood, in the boundary of the designated area.

Aside from the ‘40 km/h Area’ signs at the entrances and exits of the neighbourhood, the 40 km/h speed limit will not be signed along the streets within the neighbourhood area except where existing for school and park zones.

The roads at the boundary of the neighbourhood are including young Street, King Street South, an Industrial Parkway will remain at their current speed limit.

During the pilot project, the necessary enforcement measures will be coordinated with the local detachment of the OPP to ensure compliance with the new speed limit. Traffic data will also be collected in collaboration with the OPP and the Town’s contractor to evaluate the effectiveness of the 40 km/h neighbourhood and speed limit.

The effectiveness of the pilot project will be reviewed with the Town’s Traffic Advisory Committee to determine the next steps.

If this pilot project is successful, neighbourhood area speed limits may be adopted in other neighbourhoods.

Speed is a major cause of accidents, injury, and death.

While speeding a driver’s situational awareness is drastically reduced. The faster you are driving, the greater your stopping distance when braking. This causes an increase in the risk of a collision.

Higher speeds cause stronger impacts increasing the risk of injury or death. This especially applies to a cyclist or pedestrians.

Signs indicating the 40 km/h speed limit have been installed at key neighbourhood boundaries including Young Street, King Street South, and Industrial Parkway. 

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