Kamloops city council has shelved a proposed 30 km/h neighbourhood speed limit pilot, choosing instead to direct staff to develop a traffic-calming policy aimed at addressing speeding on specific residential streets.

The decision came late Tuesday during the Jan. 20 Committee of the Whole meeting, following hours of debate over the effectiveness, cost and enforceability of a pilot that would have lowered speed limits on local residential roads in the Sagebrush neighbourhood and the McDonald Park area of North Kamloops.

Council ultimately voted against proceeding with the pilot, then approved a separate motion instructing administration to bring forward a traffic-calming policy for council consideration, as envisioned under the city’s Vision Zero Kamloops Road Safety Strategy.

Pilot proposal and costs

The pilot, developed by the city’s transportation department and brought forward by the Livability and Sustainability Select Committee, would have reduced posted speed limits from 50 km/h to 30 km/h on local residential streets — not arterials or major collector roads — for a four- to six-month testing period.

Phase 1 of the program would have included signage, public education, speed monitoring and standard enforcement, along with consultant reporting to assess compliance. Staff estimated the cost at $130,000 per neighbourhood, for a total of $260,000.

If compliance proved low, a second phase could have introduced physical traffic-calming measures such as speed humps, curb extensions or medians, following council approval of a traffic-calming policy.

Transportation and Engineering Manager Purvez Irani told council the goal was to see whether reduced speeds alone — supported by education and enforcement — would meaningfully change driver behaviour.

“We want to see what will happen in a neighbourhood if we reduce the speed to 30 kilometres per hour,” said Councillor Katie Neustaeter. “The transportation department has come up with some very concrete ways of finding out whether we can make life better in neighbourhoods.”

Enforcement, relevance and value questioned

However, as debate continued, a majority of councillors raised concerns about whether the pilot would address the city’s most pressing speeding issues.

Several councillors argued the reduced speed limits would not apply to the roads where speeding and collisions are most common, particularly in Sagebrush.

Councillor Margot Middleton, who lives in the neighbourhood, said major routes such as 9th, 10th and 11th avenues — which see heavy traffic volumes — would not be affected by the pilot.

“I can’t support doing a pilot project for something that is going to, in my opinion, not really give us any new information,” Middleton said. “I would rather see the money spent on physical calming measures to try to slow the traffic down.”

Councillor Dale Bass echoed those concerns, noting that collision statistics referenced during debate often involved intersections on Columbia Street, which would not be subject to the 30 km/h limit.

“I don’t really see the value right now if the streets that are having the accidents are not going to be reduced,” Bass said.

Enforcement capacity was another major sticking point. Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson repeatedly questioned whether reduced speed signs would be effective without increased RCMP presence.

“For me, it’s enforcement, enforcement, enforcement,” the mayor said. “You’re going to need RCMP.”

Councillor Bill Sarai said school zones should be the city’s top priority when it comes to speed reduction.

“If you want to get the best safety on our roads in our city, let’s slow down the people who are going past Valleyview Elementary and Parkcrest,” he said. “That’s where you’re going to get the most buy-in from our parents, from our residents.”

Pilot defeated

After extensive discussion, Mayor Hamer-Jackson called the question on the pilot proposal which was ultimately defeated.

Following the defeat, Bepple attempted to redirect the pilot funding toward immediate traffic-calming treatments such as speed humps and curb bulges. That motion was also defeated, with councillors saying council should first review a comprehensive traffic-calming policy before committing funding or selecting specific measures.

Councillor Kelly Hall said spending money without a policy framework would be premature. “I think you have to have the policy and the report from staff and the costing before you put a motion forward to spend the money,” he said.

Council agrees on next step

Despite divisions over the pilot, council ultimately found common ground on one point: the need for a formal traffic-calming policy.

Council approved a motion directing staff to bring forward a policy outlining how traffic-calming measures would be selected, designed and implemented, including neighbourhood engagement, emergency access considerations, cycling safety and maintenance requirements.

Irani clarified that while Vision Zero was adopted in 2023, Kamloops does not yet have a standalone traffic-calming policy.

“In the plan, it says create a traffic calming policy,” he said. “Once we have that policy, then we can start looking at what traffic calming measures, how we do engagement, and what tools we use.”

He also noted that traffic calming could be delivered through the city’s existing annual transportation safety budget, rather than the $260,000 estimated for the pilot.

Mixed reactions, shared goal

Councillor Stephen Karpuk, who brought the original motion to the Livability and Sustainability Select Committee, said he was disappointed the pilot was rejected but would respect council’s decision.

“You’ve got to start somewhere,” he said, arguing the pilot would have tested whether residents would voluntarily comply with lower neighbourhood speeds. “One more life that’s impacted by a vehicle is one too many.”

Mayor Hamer-Jackson closed the discussion by emphasizing that all councillors share the same objective. “Let’s all be clear — we all want safer roads,” he said.

With the pilot officially off the table, staff are now expected to return to council with a traffic-calming policy that will guide how Kamloops responds to neighbourhood speeding concerns moving forward.