Saanich councillors will consider whether to send Premier John Horgan a letter asking for a “modernization” of the Highway Traffic Act.
Saanich Mayor Fred Haynes said in a telephone interview Monday he believes a good look at the act will result in a provincewide reduction on residential speeds from 50 kilometres an hour to 40.
Haynes said such a reduction would reduce fuel consumption, decrease the production of greenhouse gases and improve safety and so reduce medical costs.
He said as a municipality, the District of Saanich already has the option of reducing speeds on its own streets. But he fears if municipalities start acting on their own initiative, it will create a patchwork of speed limits across the province that will confuse and confound drivers instead of changing habits.
Councils throughout the province, through the Union of B.C. Municipalities, have been asking for such changes for years but past provincial governments have failed to act, Haynes said.
The motion was scheduled for debate Monday evening.
