FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Major 3-Year Study of Traffic Signage Adequacy in Winnipeg Released by Safer Street Solutions

Concludes city speed limit and school/playground signage is grossly inadequate, placing motorists at risk while allowing photo and police enforcement to intentionally prey on deficient areas to maximize traffic violations

Winnipeg, March 12, 2012 – Chris Sweryda, founder of Safer Street Solutions, has undertaken a massive analysis of Winnipeg’s traffic signage adequacy relative to national standards, best practices adopted by other Canadian cities and even the City of Winnipeg’s own policies. The exhaustive research project has been 3 years in the making and culminates in a detailed report that identifies gross deficiencies in traffic signage so prevalent that mobile photo radar and police enforcement can be found regularly enforcing in these locations as an obvious predatory tactic to raise ticket revenue.

“The evidence is there for everyone to see – where you find inadequate traffic signage, you are almost certain to find some form of enforcement,” says Chris Sweryda. “But what’s even more egregious is that Winnipeg is the only major city in Canada that upholds such substandard signage practices and when challenged on the issue City officials inform me that Winnipeg can’t be compared with other cities, but they can’t properly explain why.”

Mr. Sweryda has presented many of his findings to the City’s Public Works Department resulting in numerous sign upgrades, only a few of which were speed signs. “Their agenda is dangerously obvious - they don’t want to unplug the cash machine. It’s ironic that the #1 contributing factor in fatal collisions is speed according to MPIC and Winnipeg Police, yet the city refuses to dual sign its speed limits”, adds Sweryda.

“So much for it being all about safety.”

A classic example of the need for dual signing speed limit and speed reduction signs on divided roads in Winnipeg involves East St. Paul resident Helen Fitzpatrick, who has been driving for 51 years with a clean driving record. Helen was ticketed in 2011 on westbound Grant Ave. at Wilton (the City’s top producing intersection speed camera) for driving 64 km/hr in a 50 km/hr zone.

Helen, a senior on a fixed income, paid the $ 225 fine but argues that she could not see the curbside speed reduction signage because her view was visually obstructed by a truck. “What is the point of speed limits if drivers aren’t made aware of them,” Fitzpatrick asks. “Why is it so difficult to put a second median sign up? It seems the City prefers to encourage speeding instead of discouraging it. I think the Mayor has his priorities a little backwards.”

The report by Safer Streets Solutions is in the form of a 100 page powerpoint presentation, complete with pictures and videos to verify each and every point. It is a compelling indictment of the City of Winnipeg’s appalling signage practices that actually place motorists at higher risk compared to other cities in Canada.

Major conclusions from the Safer Streets Solutions study include:

Speed Limit Signs – General

The city of Winnipeg fails to comply with its own standards that require speed signs to be larger when they are further than 3m from the road

69 of 98 speed reductions in Winnipeg fail to comply with national MUTCD standards

Winnipeg Police and mobile radar units enforce almost exclusively in speed reduction zones that are not adequately signed. Enforcement in properly signed zones is virtually nil.

Many speed limit signs are missing entirely. Enforcement is aggressive at these sites and especially if it involves a missing speed reduction sign

Speed reduction signs are found up to 3.5 times further off the road than permissible by city standards

Numerous speed limit and reduction signs are higher than the tops of many overpasses

Lost in space - why didn’t they just place it on the light pole near the road?

Many speed reduction signs are non-reflective and virtually invisible at night-time. Some of these signs precede regular enforcement sites that are used for night-time enforcement

Speed Limit Dual Signing

Speed limit signs are the only traffic signs that are not placed on both sides of divided or one-way roads (dual signed), where as every other major city in western Canada dual signs its speed limit signs

Speed reductions occur on roads with up to 4 lanes of traffic yet are not dual signed while most other signs are dual signed on roads with as few as 1 lane

58 of Winnipeg's 98 speed reductions are on divided roads where the signs should be dual signed for maximum awareness and compliance

Winnipeg's top three producing intersection cameras follow speed reductions that are not dual signed on multi-lane divided roads. As well, each fails to meet MUTCD placement standards

Dual signing is done for speed limit signs on provincial roads outside of Winnipeg. All provincial signs are also compliant with MUTCD and other standards

40º Cone of Vision-MUTC

D

Province of MB always dual signs

Top - MIT (Highways Dept) consistently uses dual signing and doesn’t neglect the speed reduction.

50 km/hr Unless Otherwise Posted

86% of mobile photo enforcement sites are in 50 km/h zones and almost all are either unsigned or follow an improperly signed speed reduction. The majority of live police enforcement occurs in areas with no speed limits posted as well

Over 92% of the mobile enforcement in 50 km/hr speed limit locations do not post a speed limit sign

The city claims it cannot post 50 km/hr speed limit signs outside of speed reduction zones so as to not erode the 50 km/hr limit unless otherwise posted rule – yet there are 111 examples of posted 50 km/hr signs that contradict this claim and almost all are on streets that are not regularly enforced

The City of Winnipeg claims:

Selective Max 50 Signing

Winnipeg has 111 “selective” 50 km/h speed postings that are not at speed reductions. Selective signing is common in other major cities across Canada.

Every other major city in western Canada uses selective 50 km/h signing on major roads to reinforce the 50 unless otherwise posted rule

Intersection cameras issue 2 times more tickets in zones without speed signing than in zones with posted speed signs

School and Playground Zones

Many school and playground zone signs are missing. Photo enforcement is continuing in the absence of these signs

Complaints to the city have failed to get any of these missing signs replaced

Dozens of school zone signs in 60 km/h zones are smaller than the minimum size prescribed by city policy for that speed zone

Many signs are placed at a substantial distance before major intersections so drivers entering the roadway from the intersection have no idea they are entering a school or playground zone. Proper signing does occur at locations lacking photo radar

Playground zones that are not dual signed tend to be enforced by mobile photo radar far more aggressively than dual signed playground zones

The only location in the city with dual signed 50 km/h signs is on westbound Grant Ave. after Waverley St. It also happens to be the school zone that the City of Winnipeg uses for press conferences when promoting school zone safety. And ironically, it is the only 50 km/hr zone on Grant Ave. that is not photo enforced

School and Playground Zones - Dual Signing

Many school and playground zone signs are not dual signed. The left picture is from a major arterial road. The picture on the right is a residential street.

Other

Winnipeg is the only western Canadian city that uses a 4.0 second amber in 80 km/h zones. All other cities use the ITE engineering formula to calculate amber times or use a minimum of 5.0 seconds in 80 km/hr zones.

Winnipeg red light cameras in 80 km/h zones issue 6 times more tickets per camera then those in 50-70 km/h zones

The City of Winnipeg tickets 3 times more speeding violations annually than the City of Saskatoon (15% of its population is ticketed annually vs. 5% respectively)

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Media Contact:

Chris Sweryda, Safer Street Solutions

(full study powerpoint slide deck available on request)

Ph. 204-801-9239

csweryda@hotmail.com