Mixed reactions to speed limit bill

Two southeastern Manitoba municipalities have mixed feelings over a private member’s bill seeking to allow municipalities to set speed limits on provincial roads.

Progressive Conservative MLA for La Vérendrye Konrad Narth introduced Bill 222, The Highway Traffic Amendment Act (Speed limits on provincial roads), to the legislature on Dec. 4. The bill would let any local traffic authority, such as a First Nation or a municipality, to set speed limits on provincial roads in urban areas.

Stuartburn Reeve Michelle Gawronsky said she learned about the bill for the first time when it was read out in the legislature. She called it “unfortunate” because there was no prior consultation with Narth before it was introduced.

“I’m not saying the bill isn’t good, but I just think there’s an awful lot of questions that we would’ve like to have asked Konrad before this actually went before the legislature,” she said.

One of her fears if the bill is passed is that speed limits could change every four years with each election. Gawronsky said she’s also concerned about who would enforce the speed limits and what the costs would be for ratepayers if they set the limits.

She said Stuartburn’s council is working with the province to change speed limits in three hamlets.

When a municipality wants the province to lower a provincial road’s speed limit, she said the chief administrative officer drafts a proposal to send to the province. From there, Gawronsky said council waits for a provincial approval and then drafts a bylaw for the change.

Gawronsky said she’s heard concerns from residents in Gardenton, roughly 50 kilometres south of Steinbach, that the provincial road’s speed limit is too high as more young families move near the road. Provincial Road 209 cuts through the community and has a speed limit of 90 km/h. She said the municipality is planning to look into lowering those speed limits.

“It’s a community now. It’s not just a deserted town anymore. There’s people actually living in it,” Gawronsky said.

Narth said he created the bill to make speed limit changes more time efficient at a grassroots level so safety can be improved quickly. He said it’s an oversight at the provincial level to have officials approve the changes for roads that impact many small towns.

“The local municipalities are the ones that understand what the needs and concerns are of their communities, and they’re able to make the best decisions in the most timely manner,” he said.

He cited an example in Marchand where a speed zone was moved, resulting in 100 km/h traffic travelling beside a sidewalk. Narth said it isn’t realistic to have the minister of transportation and infrastructure or the deputy minister respond to the requests because they don’t have “their finger on the pulse” of these growing communities.

While Narth was working on the bill since 2023, he said he drew inspiration from a similar Association of Manitoba Municipalities resolution passed in November 2024. The resolution sought to lobby the province on allowing municipalities to change speed limits for both provincial highways and roads.

La Broquerie Reeve Ivan Normandeau views the bill as a “great idea” and said it could benefit most communities with provincial roads running through them.

“We do have access to our roads. On municipal roads, we do our own speed limits. So it’s good to have that authority (to set speed limits),” he said.

However, Normandeau understands the province may still be interested in controlling speeds because they maintain the road. He said the municipality doesn’t want the responsibility of maintaining the provincial road if that’s how they get the ability to set speed limits.

“I’m not going to tell somebody how to do my driveway when it’s my driveway,” he said, adding he understands both Narth’s stance and the province’s perspective.

University of Winnipeg political sciences professor Aaron Moore says the bill is problematic because it could make it difficult to coordinate speed limits between municipalities.

“I really think they (the province) would be concerned that municipalities would abuse that because they could say ‘Oh no, we suddenly have a residential neighborhood where there wasn’t one anymore, and they’re complaining. So we’re going to reduce the speed limit on this section,’” he said.

Moore pointed to Winnipeg as an example where some counsellors have previously pushed for certain speed limits in their wards. He said setting the speed limits would then become a potential political decision.

“It really becomes focused, parochial politics that would dominate that sort of decision making. I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Moore said.

The bill was debated, but didn’t go for a vote by the end of the legislative session. Narth said he hopes to re-introduce the bill in March when the next session begins.