Delta councillor concerned drivers still going too fast on Alex Fraser despite speed limit change

DELTA (NEWS 1130) – Questions are being raised about whether a 70 kilometre per hour speed limit is actually appropriate for the Alex Fraser Bridge.

The decision to reduce the speed from 90 km/hr to 70 km/hr was made as a result of the province adding in a counter-flow lane – a move which narrows the width of each lane. The province says the change to the speed limit is to “help keep travellers safe and traffic flowing efficiently during counter-flow.”

RELATED: Province lowers speed limit on Alex Fraser

But Delta City Councillor Lois Jackson is worried many drivers are still travelling at previous speed limit and that’s causing a safety issue.

“When you have someone that is going 90 km and somebody that’s doing the speed limit of 70 – that’s a big differential. So I guess we’re going to have to see how it works,” she says. “I know the lanes are narrowing, but I’m just not so sure how this is going to work.”

Jackson says there’s been a lack of information provided about the change and she wonders how strictly the RCMP will enforce the new limit along that stretch.

RELATED: Improvements to Alex Fraser Bridge running behind schedule

“What has happened in other areas where they’ve done this? I’d really like to have some background on what has happened in other areas and whether lowering the speed limit on such a busy thoroughfare has worked in other places,” she says.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Transportation, the average speed of a car going over the Alex Fraser is about 76 km/hr — but that also includes vehicles crawling over the bridge during the commute.

With files from Dean Recksiedler, Hana Mae Nassar and Alison Bailey.

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