January 6, 2012 City of Winnipeg Public Works 110-1199 Pacific Ave Winnipeg, Man R3E 3S8 Dear Public

Works,

RE: GRANT AVE SPEED CAMERA AND PHOTO RADAR

I wish address some infrastructure issues that would greatly improve the speeding problems on Grant Ave WB between Stafford and Cambridge. Since the camera on Grant WB at Wilton has been installed, it has captured 1000's speeding violations. Currently, that location is the #1 producing speed camera according to City of Winnipeg statistics. In recent months, a very lucrative and controversial photo radar location has been set-up on Grant WB west of Nathaniel. Winnipeg Police Sgt. Safioles stated, He cannot keep up with the offenders in regards to a radar set-up at this location. He also added, Theyre still speeding like crazy. Its a big problem speed area. Its a huge complaint area. A lot of people from all the residential apartment blocks phone us on a regular basis, saying they can barely get across the street at the crosswalk because of all the speeders. - Winnipeg Free Press, Dec 13, 2011. It should be a concern to the City, that this extremely dangerous speeding location has both a pedestrian crossing and a school zone within it. The most obvious issue is the speed reduction from 60-50 km/h on Grant WB at Stafford before approaching this problem area. The City has stated that, Signs are installed per the guidelines of the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Canada (MUTCD). Somehow, despite this claim, the speed reduction sign on Grant is grossly out of compliance with this manual. The height of the RB1 50 km/h speed sign at this reduction is much higher than the line of sight for most drivers, above the illumination of headlights and outside of compliance with the MUTCD. The 60 km/h posting on Grant WB west of Pembina before the reduction is perfectly placed within MUTCD guidelines and visible to drivers. In February of 2011, Winnipeg media covered a story about the extreme height of this sign, but it has remained uncorrected. On multi-lane divided roads such as Grant, it is very common for vehicles in the curb lane to block the view of the sign from vehicles in the median lane. This problem is solved by placing a second sign on the median across from the primary sign on the right. The MUTCD encourages this practice when evidence shows that motorists are failing to see the primary sign. The city already dual signs almost every sign except for speed signs including reductions such as Grant. There is no logical reason to dual sign all road signs except speed control unless entrapment is the true motive. With this location being the highest producing speed camera in the city, issuing thousands of tickets annually, it should be evident that motorists are failing to see the primary sign. Other major Canadian cities such as Edmonton, Calgary, Regina and Saskatoon dual sign speed reductions. Winnipeg must begin this practice. To improve visibility and compliance, an additional (confirmation) speed sign can also be placed after the reduction. This is added visibility for traffic that may have missed

May 10, 2012

the reduction signs. Many other cities utilize this practice including Winnipeg at some locations such as on Main Street SB at Flora after the speed reduction at Manitoba Ave. The advantages of this confirmation sign may be a possible reason why SB Main never has had a camera installed after that reduction and Grant which lacks this sign is such a problem speed area. Grant WB should have a confirmation sign west of Harrow and Wilton to serve as a final reminders of the reduction before traffic passes the camera at Wilton and enters the school zone at Nathaniel. Located after the Grant and Nathaniel area is a pair of dual signed speed signs on Grant WB west of Montrose which also includes a sign that tells drivers their speed. This type of signing needs to be before the problem speed area, not after. This speeding problem is as much a responsibility of the city to properly sign as it is for the motorist to obey the signs. People simply cannot reduce their speed if they arent properly informed of the limit. A speed sign can be purchased for $55. Since the lowest camera ticket starts at $216, just two of the thousands of tickets could pay for the purchase and installation of the four speed signs required to dual sign the reduction and add confirmation signs after Harrow and Wilton. These improvements would cost about 0.0004% of the speeding ticket revenue collected from the Grant/Wilton camera in 2010 alone. These signs need to be installed for the safety of all pedestrians and traffic on Grant Ave. If the city truly cares about safety instead of revenue, its time to show it with real safety measures which include proper signing. Please contact me after review of this letter as I would like to know what measures the city will be taking to improve signing. I look forward to your response and can be reached at 204-801-9239 or by csweryda@hotmail.com. Sincerely,

Chris Sweryda