H.M.C.S Hoedown

This year, on July 3, 2019 at the Crossroads Market Special Event tent, Councillor Gian-Carlo Carra, Councillor Jeff Davison, and the Capitan and Crew of the H.M.C.S. Calgary teamed up and hosted a Hoedown to raise funds for the Alex Community Food Centre and the Foothills Burn Unit through the Calgary Health Trust. The admission ticket included a free Jane Bond BBQ meal, a choice of a local craft beer (Dandy, Highline, Banded Peak, ’88 Brewing, Tool Shed served from the Pedal Pub) and live music by Tom Olsen and the Wreckage, T. Buckley and Wendy Walker and Reconciliation Tribe. There was a bouncy castle for the kids, bubbles, games and more. Nvrlnd, a Ward 9 art collective, provided a welcoming photo booth for guests. As well, Riley J.B Photographer and Alchemist were on-site providing handmade tintype photos donating the proceeds to the charities.

The event was a huge success and we have been able to raise $5000 for the Alex Community Food Centre, as well as $5000 for the Foothills Burn Unit. We will be holding the cheque presentation on October 22 at the Alex Food Centre at 11:30 A.M. located at 4920 17 Ave S.E.

Guest Blog - Why Forest Lawn matters to me

Two years ago my wife and I decided on Forest Lawn as the place to build our family. We were pregnant and looking to buy our first home together. Initially, I was skeptical of the location based on the reputation the community had, but the reality of the neighbourhood was significantly different than what I had expected.

I love Forest Lawn

I have found Forest Lawn to be one of the best neighbourhoods I have lived in here in Calgary, for many reasons. There are many great shops, local businesses, amazing food, and a diverse blend of cultures all coming together to make Forest Lawn feel like a small town in a big city.

The proximity to downtown is great and with the construction work underway on 17 Avenue and the vision for the corridor from the BRZ/International Ave and the City of Calgary, I found that there are only a few things that needed to change to make Forest Lawn live up to its potential.

Before you complain, volunteer

One thing was that it needed to be physically cleaned up.

I had decided that I wanted to get involved in my community and I was able to get in touch with the Forest Lawn Community Association. I offered my services to help in anyway and I was informed about a community clean-up the FLCA was hosting.  I offered to design the flyers, print and distribute them.

One of the aspects of the clean-up was that not all residents were able to move their garbage or recyclables to the location. We would need to find some volunteers to pick up the materials from any residents that required it. This made me think, if we had to pick up the garbage, we should just be dropping it at the landfill. If we were able to get access to the landfill, I could use that access to clean up the rest of the neighbourhood.

I eventually elaborated on the idea until it developed into a project. I plan and implement projects every day in my line of work and it only seemed natural to apply the same formula to this project. I set up the goals for the project, expected outcomes, and a plan of action to have it accomplished.

Planning was essential

The first step was organizing a way to remove as much garbage as possible and where it would go. I contacted the City’s Waste and recycling division and sent the director my plan of action and asked for 3 days of access at no charge to remove the debris. I then tried to find a resource to fund the operation.

I received notification back from Waste and Recycling Services that they would be happy to be a part of the project. Although they weren’t sure about how they were going to go about structuring it as it was a new initiative.

Funding on the other hand was a much more difficult aspect as there wasn’t an operating body that would be able to fund the project, for one reason or another. (Starting in late 2018, anyone with an idea to help their community can apply for funding through the GFL Small Grants Committee).

Because we had the backing of Waste and Recycling Services, and the support of Councillor Gian-Carlo Carra and his team, I decided to fund the project.

The next difficult step was to find volunteers. I made the rounds through my friends and family and had confirmation from many of them for at least a few hours over the weekend and that was a good enough start.

I then approached several businesses, not-for-profits and social program directors in the neighbourhood. Many said they were unable to help or didn’t have the resources and made recommendations to other places or people. When I approached Foothills Landscaping, a long-time member of the Forest Lawn community, they volunteered. They offered the project two vehicles, if they could find volunteers to run them from within the company. The President of Foothills landscaping, George, and another great volunteer, Roy, stepped up and drove the trucks and helped pick up the waste scattered through the alleys.  

I organized the teams so that we could have the maximum impact, giving each crew a set of laneways to clean-up. Because of our lack of resources, we really needed to be efficient in how we used them, so planning was a key element to achieving success.

The project was a huge success. By the end of the 3 days we had accomplished quite a lot and made a big impact on the aesthetics, safety and pride of the community.

The numbers

• 21,840 Lbs of waste

• 23 Trips to the landfill

• 72.5 Hours of labour

• $314.02 Operating expenses

• $0.0144 – Cost per LBS

• 301.24 LBS per hour worked

What we encountered

Some of the most common things we came across were couches and mattresses, we also often had to clean up ripped open garbage bags or overturned black bins.

We did have to call the Calgary Fire Department to come out to two scenes while we were on the clean up. We had come across several needles in various locations and one particular area with roughly 50 needles that needed to be cleaned up. While it wasn’t nice coming across those, we were very happy to be able to remove them from the neighbourhood and create a safer space for everyone.

The outcomes

One of the best outcomes of this project, outside of the intended goals, was the communication with the community. They were so happy to see that someone was helping the community and cleaning up what everyone had seen as a major problem.

We were thanked by many of the residents and many of them had questions as to why we were doing it, and who we were hired by. I think that many of them were shocked that someone could just take it upon themselves to fix a problem.

If one lesson is learned from this, I hope it is that ever citizen, every individual has the power to make positive change. You don’t have to set up a whole program or clean up an entire community. You can volunteer a few hours at your local community association, pick up garbage as you walk down the street, cut your neighbours grass or shovel someone’s walkway. Everyone has the power to affect change in their community.

Thank yous

I would like to thank all of the 9 volunteers;

Perry, Chris, Dwayne, Pete, Allan, Steve, Roy, George and Bill.

I would also like to thank supporters of the project;

Mike Haines, Rick Valdarchi, and Je Fei Shi from Waste and Recycling Services. 12 Community Safety Initiative. BRZ / International Avenue. As well as Gian-Carlo Carra and his staff.

Final thoughts

If you or someone you know would like to become active in your community, a great way to start is by joining your local Community Association.

William Carnegie

Interested in the Olympic Plebiscite?

November 13, 2018 is Vote Day for the Olympics. Photo source: Lyle Aspinall/PostMedia Network

Ward 9 2026 Olympic Bid Engagement Open House

There will be a 2026 Olympic Bid Engagement Open House in Ward 9

When: Wednesday, October 17, 2018

Time: 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM

Where: Hotel Blackfoot, 5940 Blackfoot Trail SE

The Open House will follow a similar format to the City’s Engage events. Everyone is free to move around at their leisure.

There will be city staff on hand to facilitate. They will answer questions and direct attendees to information boards which will have much of the material you can see on the online portal here: https://engage.calgary.ca/2026Games

The open houses are opportunities to provide hands-on feedback directly to staff. Usually there are forms with specific questions that attendees can complete and leave with staff. The five focus topics of the engagement are:

• Community

• Venues and facilities

• Environment

• Economy

• Costs

All five are outlined in detail on the Engage portal in Step 2 (“Learn about the proposed bid”). The Engage Toolkit is a great resource as well.

Olympic Public Engagement and Information

Do you want more information to answers like:

• Why is Calgary considering hosting the Games again?

• What are some of the proposed Olympic and Paralympic numbers in the Draft Hosting Plan?

• Will hosting the Games help or hinder Calgary’s future?

Then please have a look at the 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games bid engagement toolkit.

Through to October 28, Calgarians have the opportunity to learn more about The City’s analysis of the Calgary 2026 Draft Hosting Plan Concept (see below).

In addition, the online engagement portal was launched today, giving citizens a chance to review materials and offer input at their convenience through to October 28.

The engage website is calgary.ca/2026Games

2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Bid Engagement and Public Events

The engage website is calgary.ca/2026Games

The City of Calgary’s Secretariat was established to examine Calgary 2026’s Draft Hosting Plan Concept and provide advice to City Council and the Assessment Committee on opportunities, benefits, costs and risks associated with bidding and possibly hosting the Games. The Secretariat also ensures Council and the Assessment Committee have the information they need to make the decision on whether or not to bid.

The Secretariat has undertaken a thorough analysis of the draft hosting plan. It has worked with City of Calgary staff in all departments and external consultants with Games experience to determine and assess benefits and risks inherent in the draft hosting plan. It has also worked with other orders of government, the Canadian Olympic Committee and the Canadian Paralympic Committee.

There have been some external comments about how the information is being presented through the public engagement platform, specifically around categorizing potential benefits and risks associated with hosting the Games.

Should The City decide to submit a bid, and it is successful, the draft hosting plan would continue to evolve. The examples of benefits and risks listed in the engagement materials are provided to achieve a balanced approach. The examples are “potential” and not intended to be taken as exhaustive.

What are the next steps?

The City is engaging Calgarians to help City Council decide whether or not to submit a bid to host the 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. City Council will consider a range of information before making its decision.

Mark your calendars - November 13, 2018 is vote day!

What’s on the ballot?

The question on the ballot will be:

Are you for or are you against Calgary hosting the 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games?

__ I am for Calgary hosting
__ I am against Calgary hosting

Advance Vote

November 6 and 7 – Advance Vote 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. (14 locations, one in each ward)

November 6 – Mount Royal University 11 a.m. - 5p.m.

November 7 – University of Calgary  11 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Senior’s Accommodation Vote (November 6 & 7) – list of residences will be added to the website shortly. 

Special (Mail-in) Ballots

Applications are now open and can be made online, in person or over the phone until November 13, 2018 at noon.

Ballot packages must be received at the Elections Office by 4 pm on November 13, 2018. 

If the mail strike occurs arrangements have been made to deliver the packages to Calgary addresses via courier.

Voting on Vote Day

Time:  8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

160 locations across the City.

Voters must vote at their designated voting station.

Hospital Vote:  10 a.m. to 7 p.m. (rotating)  Foothills, Peter Lougheed, Rockyview, South Health Campus

Who is eligible to Vote

A Canadian citizen at least 18 years of age who has resided in Alberta for a least the last 6 months (since May 13, 2018) and lives in a Calgary Voting Subdivision on Vote Day. 

How to Vote

For the first time, Elections Calgary will be using vote tabulators to compile the results.  Voters will be provided a paper ballot and they will mark their choice on the ballot.  The ballot will then be run through the tabulator, if there are no errors, the ballot is accepted into the ballot box.  If the ballot has been marked improperly (e.g. too many choices) the ballot will be returned to the voter and the voter will be given an opportunity to correctly mark a ballot and have it accepted by the tabulator. 

Looking for information on The Games before you vote?

Results

At the Voting Station, after the last voter leaves the station, the tabulator will generate results for the ballots received by it.  Those results will be posted for scrutineers to read.

The results will be available on the Calgary.ca/vote2018 website and City social media channels. The legislation prevents the results being released voting station by voting station on Vote Day.  When all results have been tabulated, which we are planning for at the latest 10 p.m., Elections Calgary will post on its social media channels that the results will be released in the next 15 minutes.

Public, Campaigns, and Media will all be encouraged to watch our Social Media Channels to ensure they are prepared.

Useful web links:

Who can vote

When & Where to vote

The Question

ID Requirements

Vote workers

For more information, visit www.calgary.ca/vote2018 or call 311.

17 Ave SE BRT Update - upcoming detours and closures (September 28, 2018)

Rendering of the 17 Avenue and 36 Street SE Station. Source: City of Calgary

Written by the BRT Project Team

Published on September 28, 2018

Crews are busy at work on International Avenue, and there are some detours and closures this weekend.

September 29 to October 1, 2018 – 17 Avenue and 19 Street SE

• Starting at 7 a.m. September 29, 2018 westbound 17 Avenue S.E. will be reduced to one lane at 19 Street S.E.

• The westbound left turn lane on 17 Avenue S.E. to 19 Street S.E. will also be closed.

• Eastbound 17 Avenue S.E. will be reduced to one lane east of the 19 Street S.E. intersection. 

October 4, 2018 – 17 Avenue and 19 Street SE

• Traffic lanes on 19 Street S.E. will be shifted and the pedestrian crosswalk on the east side of 19 Street will be opened. This work is weather dependant.

October 5 to 9, 2018 - 17 Avenue and 19 Street SE

• Starting at 7 a.m. September 29, 2018 westbound 17 Avenue S.E. to 19 Street S.E. will be reduced to one lane at 19 Street S.E.

• The westbound left turn lane on 17 Avenue S.E. will also be closed.

• Eastbound 17 Avenue S.E. will be reduced to one lane east of the 19 Street S.E. intersection.

Source: The City of Calgary

Don’t forget your favourite businesses on International Avenue are open during construction, so make sure to stop by.

Stay in touch with the BRT Project Team and get all updates by visiting www.calgary.ca/17AveSEBRT.

Survey: Route 24 Ogden Bus Service Change

Residents in Ogden have told the Ward 9 Office that they have not been made aware of the route change to Ogden’s Route 24 bus. Because of this, many residents have told us about their concern about their inability to access the Route 24, which makes their travel within Calgary much more difficult.

Councillor Carra is interested in finding out which of the two routes is below is preferred. Understanding your concerns about these routes is important for him to know. In order for him and the Ward 9 Office staff to advocate on your behalf to Calgary Transit, we need as many Ogden Route 24 users to fill this survey out and share it with their neighbours in the community who may not visit www.gccarra.ca or may not be on his email list.

Option 1

View fullsize

This was the first proposed route change to the Route 24

Option 2

View fullsize

This is the new amended route for the Route 24

We appreciate you sharing this with your friends and neighbours in Ogden and will follow up with everyone who has filled out this survey so we can report on what we’ve found and discuss possible next steps.

Thank you!

Ward 9 Office

P.S. After filling out this survey, please call Calgary Transit at 403-262-1000 and let them know your thoughts about the proposed change to the Route 24.

Looking for some more information on how we got here?

• Calgary Transit 2018 Bus Review timeline: https://www.calgarytransit.com/news/our-2018-bus-review

• Calgary Transit Engagement for the Route 24 change (Option 1): https://www.engage.calgary.ca/BusReview/route-24

• Calgary Transit Engagement for the Route 24 change (Option 2): https://www.calgary.ca/engage/Documents/BRT_Program/What%20We%20Did%202018.pdf
  

Renfrew and the North Hill Communities Local Growth Planning project

Updated: September 24, 2018

Hi Renfrew!

We wanted to put this upcoming engagement on your radar.  In September of 2017, Councillor Carra was a sponsor of the Community Planning in North Central Green Lines Communities Notice of Motion along with Councillor Farrell that was approved by Council. In April of this year (2018), City Administration came forward with their report on local growth planning. What came out of this was the ‘North Hill Communities Local Growth Planning’ project.

What is the North Hill Communities Local Growth Planning project and why does it matter?

As you may know, the North Hill Communities Local Growth Planning project is a new, multi-community approach to planning at the local level and includes the communities of Renfrew, Greenview Industrial, Highland Park, Mount Pleasant, Tuxedo Park, Winston Heights-Mountview, Crescent Heights, Rosedale, and Capitol Hill.

While Renfrew is not a Green Line community, the Notice of Motion asked that the Main Streets work be dovetailed with Green Line work in order to be efficient with funds and to scale up the work being done in order to better coordinate public engagement and planning work internally and externally.

Councillor Carra has always believed that the next local area plans should be transformative and empower a generational shift in how we build our Great Neighbourhoods and our city; this is a major step in doing so.

As Renfrew is bounded by 16 Avenue N and Edmonton Trail, this is a great opportunity to shape the direction of planning for the community.

As one of his promises to Renfrew of delivering updated local area plans for every community in Ward 9 before the end of 2021, he was very proud to see this Notice of Motion receive approval from Council.

What is the timeline for this project?

As part of the work City Administration was directed to do, they will begin online engagement, from September 19 – December 7 with in-person engagement starting either late September 2018 or mid-October 2018.

Visit this link to help guide the future vision for Renfrew and the surrounding communities and making sure your ideas are heard and recorded.

In the new year, The City will shift into more focused engagement activities with visioning and local area plan content discussions.

Upcoming in-person events

There are upcoming opportunities to review the proposed work to be done and speak with others who are interested in shaping the future of your neighbourhood:

1. Pop-Up Event: Chat with the project team - learn more about the project and how you can get involved.

• September 29, 2018 - 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM

• Safeway at 1818 Centre Street N

2. Pop-Up Event: Chat with the project team - learn more about the project and how you can get involved.

• October 4, 2018 - 4:00 PM - 6:30 PM

• Safeway at 1818 Centre Street N

Many hands make for light work

This is the first time that a project like this has been done for this part of the city and there will likely be growing pains as we learn, adapt to new challenges, and work towards solving them through tough, frank and thoughtful conversations.

Through the local growth planning process, we will be working together to create a future vision for how land can be used and redeveloped – building on the vision, goals and policies outlined in Calgary’s Municipal Development Plan and the Developed Areas Guidebook. 

Get involved and stay involved!

The Ward 9 Office will be encouraging people to visit the online Engage website, subscribe to receive email updates, and asking residents to consider applying for the North Hill Communities Working Group (more details to come).

This is a very important project for Renfrew. Please be as involved as time and capacity permits and that you share this information with your neighbours in the community so they can direct the conversations they would like to have to drive the improvements they would like to see in the future.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to the Ward 9 Office.

Upcoming closure of the Calgary Zoo's West Gate

Calgary Zoo’s West Gate will be closed effective Tuesday, October 9, 2018. Photo Source: Global News

Hi Inglewood and Ramsay residents! The Ward 9 Office has received word from the Calgary Zoo that the West Gate will be closed effective Tuesday, October 9, 2018.

However, eligible Calgary Zoo members who live in Inglewood and Ramsay are able to pass through the Calgary Zoo’s Security entrance with their valid zoo membership and special Ward 9 Community Pedestrian Pass.

Please confirm your eligibility for the pass by contacting ward09@calgary.ca and include a photo of your valid zoo membership and proof of address.

A few reminders for how members gain special access to the zoo when the West Gate is closed

Valid only for Day Admissions – Daily 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (during West Gate closure only)

• Inglewood and Ramsay residents who are valid zoo members must contact the Ward 9 Office to receive a Ward 9 Community Pedestrian Pass.

• To gain access through the Security entrance, members must present both a valid membership card along with a valid Community Pedestrian Pass.

• If a membership has expired, unfortunately access will not be granted.  The Security Team is not able to renew memberships; this can be done at the north gate, online or over the phone.

• Access applies to pedestrians only; there is no public parking available.

• Members entering at the Security gate are not able to bring guests who are non-members as Security does not have the capability to capture payment or complete transactions.

• As the Security Team does not have the capability to capture payment or complete transactions, there will be no special access for evening events including ZOOLIGHTS.

The West Gate will re-open in the spring of 2019. Please visit www.calgaryzoo.com for more details

Bridgeland-Riverside Water Main replacement at 7A Street NE

Hi Bridgeland-Riverside,

The Ward 9 Office received notice that there is water main work starting September 24. The work is estimated to take 2 weeks to complete and will effect the area in the picture below.

The City of Calgary will be replacing a water main on 7A Street NE, from Centre Ave NE to 1st Ave NE. The City has chosen to replace the water mains in this area given the past history of water main breaks and age of the infrastructure.

The City has chosen to replace the water mains in this area given the past history of water main breaks and age of the infrastructure.

If you would like more information, please click the link for the notice that was sent by Water Resources on September 12 giving more information about the water main replacement program.

If you would like more information on the project, you may also contact North Star Contracting’s project manager, Michael Campese, at 403-370-4434.

Please let your neighbours know.

Thanks!

Your Team Ward 9

Clarification on supervised consumption site community mail outs

While the City of Calgary is an interested group in these discussions, the ultimate decision lies with the provincial government.

I want to give you a heads up that some of you in certain areas in your community will be receiving a mail out from HIV Community Link, the organization contracted by Alberta Health Services to provide advisory support to the development of supervised consumption services in Calgary, on behalf of the Province.

The card states that a supervised consumption site is coming to your community. This is not actually the case – one site is proposed for the east end of downtown while the other is proposed along 17 Avenue SE.

As part of their communications plan, HIV Community Link is mailing out postcards to postal codes whose boundaries intersect within a 1 km radius of the proposed location in the east end of downtown, and 2 km radius of the 17 Avenue SE proposed location.

While the City of Calgary is an interested group in these discussions, the ultimate decision lies with the provincial government.

If you are interested in learning more, contact HIV Community Link to register for one of their engagement sessions. You can contact them by visiting their website at www.calgaryscs.com, emailing them at supervisedconsumption@hivcl.org, or calling them at 587-393-4095.

As engaged communities, there is no shortage of items, ideas, and projects to be informed about and provide your feedback.

Please keep us in the loop when you provide your comments and submit your comments, we’re interested in hearing your feedback.

Thank you,

Gian-Carlo

Achieving our values through our budget

Date: September 11, 2018

The Budget.

It’s the most important thing we as a city do. It drives what our neighbourhoods look like, how we’re connected, and how essential services are delivered to us all.

Every four years, The City creates business plans and budgets. This year is no different. This new four-year (2019-2022) budget program called One Calgary is becoming more service-focused. To do this, each department is putting forward their budget by service delivery, instead of by department.

Over the years, I’ve heard that you want to know more about the services provided, how your tax dollars are invested, how that investment is delivered to you everyday, and how that investment shapes your future.

This new way of viewing The City’s service plans and budgets will make it clear what services are provided, how much those services cost, and how those services provide you value. You’ve told me that there are things that matter to you that you feel are inadequately funded, with some of these everyday things - like snow removal, parks maintenance, illegal dumping, bylaw officers, and traffic calming.

I’ve also heard from you that the larger items that will shape our city for the better aren’t given the appropriate amount of resources, and it’s shown through the lack of funding. Items like transportation, pedestrian and cycling infrastructure, affordable housing, planning and development policies and programs like Main Streets and Step Forward, along with the seniors Age-Friendly Strategy (to name a few) aren’t budgeted for in a way that will deliver our success into the future.

I’m calling on you and your neighbours to tell me what your funding priorities are. Photo source: Iris Jegen

The City will begin engaging you on the One Calgary budget process in November, but I want your feedback much sooner than that. While I know from many of you who have attended the Ward 9 Community Objectives Workshops what your priorities are, I’m calling on you and your neighbours to tell me what your funding priorities are so that during budget deliberations, I can have laser clarity and ensure that the resources and tools that we need to continue building Great Neighbourhoods is locked into the budget.

Please send me an email at ward09@calgary.ca with your name, community, and your top 10 important items so they can be addressed during budget deliberations. The more responses, the better. 

If you would like more information, feel free to check out some more of the budget pages:

• One Calgary

• Our Services

• 2019-2022 Service Plans and Budgets hub page at calgary.ca/yourservices

I hope to hear from you soon.

Gian-Carlo

P.S. sign-up for my Ward 9 e-newsletter at www.bit.ly/Ward9Newsletter

Join us for the Ward 9 Traffic Safety Meeting

Join us for the annual ward 9 Traffic Safety Meeting. Photo source Lisa Wolansky.

Did you know that The City of Calgary and Calgary Police Service host annual meetings about traffic safety in each ward?

On Monday, November 5 from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM at the Forest Lawn Community Association (4020 26 Avenue SE) the annual Ward 9 Traffic Safety Meeting will be taking place. 

The Community Traffic Safety meetings are a great opportunity to learn about traffic safety initiatives in your community and provide your input on how we all can improve traffic safety in our neighbourhoods.

Presentations by The City and Calgary Police Service highlight work being done, followed by an open discussion with various safety experts from The City of Calgary, Calgary Police Service, and Ward 9 Councillor Gian-Carlo Carra.

Please RSVP by sending an email to ward09@calgary.ca

Improving street safety in our neighbourhoods

The goal of this work is to reduce collisions, the severity of collisions that occur, and make our neighbourhood streets safer for all users. Photo source: Dreamstime

Hello Ward 9! Happy fall. I am writing this article to tell you about a very exciting notice of motion that six of my colleagues and I on Calgary City Council are bringing forward to the September 10 Meeting of Council.

Councillor Gian-Carlo Carra shares his thoughts on the Street Safety and Neighbourhood Speed Limits and Vision Zero.

The Notice of Motion is entitled ‘Street Safety and Neighbourhood Speed Limits’. What we are looking to achieve is the culmination of many years of work and advocacy for Great Neighborhoods, and many years of listening to people at their doorsteps. That work, which is now within The City of Calgary’s jurisdiction due to the new City Charter, is to decrease speeding in residential neighbourhoods, on residential roads throughout Calgary, by defaulting the speed limit on residential roads to 30 kilometres per hour.

Why 30 km/h matters

Why 30 kilometers an hour? The science is clear that that is the point where our neighbourhoods and communities gets a lot safer for everyone who works, plays, and lives there. It is stunning to know that collisions involving people who walk cost society $120,000,000 dollars a year. At 30 kilometers an hour you feel a lot less concerned about the impact of neighbourhood traffic on your life and lifestyle, and importantly, in neighbourhood zones, it has a minimal impact on people's commute times.

Can 40 km/h work instead of 30 km/h?

There have been some people who have asked me whether 40 kilometres per hour is a decent compromise. To be honest, while it sounds like a common sense place to start, the science does not support it. In fact, what we know is that when collisions happen at 40 kilometres, survivability starts to decrease substantially. The fact of the matter is that 30 kilomteres per hour has the best balance of safety and travel times.

What do you mean by residential roads?

Often we think about residential roads as all streets in the neighbourhood. For the purposes of this Notice of Motion and the direction we’re looking to provide to City Administration, that is not accurate. In this case a ‘residential road’ would be roads that do not have lane markings on them. Different roads in Calgary have different ‘road classifications’, and not ever road found in a neighbourhood and community is a residential one – it could be a ‘Collector’, ‘Skeletal’, or ‘Arterial’ one.  

If you think about it, non-lined streets with no lane markings represent a small fraction of our commutes - about one minute – and the benefit for our collective and individual qualities of life is clear and obvious when we think about what safer, more walkable, and congenial neighbourhoods means to us. 

But the benefits to our quality of life do not end there. Lowering the speed limit in our neighbourhoods and communities also saves lives.

Read the Notice of Motion in .PDF format

View fullsize

This Notice of Motion will be going to Council for debate on September 10, 2018.

Is 50 km/h really THAT dangerous?

It is known and proven that at 30 kilometers an hour, one in 10 people will die from a collision with a vehicle. At 50 kilometers per hour, Calgary’s current default limit, that number skyrockets to nine in 10. The chances of accidents dramatically as our speed increases because our ability to see what’s around us and react quickly to unexpected circumstances as we drive decreases as the speed goes up.

Additionally, Council will be continuing the work that was started by the Step Forward pedestrian strategy which recognizes that lower neighbourhood speeds are key to making communities and neighbourhoods safer and more desirable.

Our neighbourhoods future matters

I am super excited that there’s a lot of support on Council for this. I am also very excited for the debate, both publicly in the lead up to September 10.

I have heard from many residents and businesses on this issue and I want you to know that I have given it full thought as there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution to some of the specific questions we may have about the roads we use every day.

A 30 km/h limit can't solve it all

I recognize that changing the speed limit alone will not reduce speeds, but I also know that complimentary design changes are key to ensuring that Calgarians will follow the limit and that our communities and neighbourhoods become safer.

While changing the limit is a first step, I am dedicated to ensuring that these practices allow us to change Calgary’s design standards and build streets correctly the first time, saving money and time.

This Notice of Motion does not only call for lowering the residential speed limit to 30 kilometres. For us to make sure that this is successful for all of us, there are other challenges and obstacles we need to address. 

I fully acknowledge that setting a speed limit is one thing, and environmentally designing our road system to drive slower is a much different and more important thing. The old school transportation engineering approach, which built a lot of Calgary, worked on the flawed theory that you made streets safer by encouraging driving faster. What we now understand is that when you make it safer to drive faster people drive faster, and speed kills.

For example, if you have a 50 kilometre speed limit posted on a road, the old-school design speed for that road might be 70 kilometres an hour. We also know that people while drive at the speed the road design allows, regardless of what the actual posted speed limit is.

Car collisions with people who drive, cycle, and walk, are common sites in Calgary. Road design and speeding are often factors. 

Using fine revenues to end speeding

I have heard that some people think this is a cash grab. I want to be clear that this Notice of Motion asks City Administration to explore funding these road design improvements through speeding fines and that this revenue from those that are breaking the law as it currently stands does not solely go to enforcement or general revenue. Instead, I believe that this revenue should go to fixing the root cause of the problem of speeding.

Taking charge by fixing what's broken

This Notice of Motion is embarking on a generational shift to fix the wrong-headed approach in the past through also asking that roads are designed to reflect the speed limit that is intended – making streets safer for ourselves, our families, and our neighbours.

Enforcement is part of the solution

I am glad that the Calgary Police Service also believes that the cost to society is too high and that the number of collisions ending in harm to a Calgarian must be brought down.

View fullsize

City officials estimate the financial effect of life-altering pedestrian collisions and fatalities could be $120 million annually. Source Calgary Herald

The third item that this Notice of Motion is looking to achieve is an educational and promotional campaign that will work with the Calgary Police.

This is a major transformation for Calgary that will have a positive generational impact and it starts with establishing the expectation that 30 kilometres an hour is the right speed for residential streets. This Notice of Motion begins the process and City Administration will need to review budget impacts, understand effects on transit in our city, and provide Council with a map of exactly what roads are in or out.

Building Great Neighbourhoods 

I am not expecting this work to be done overnight. It will take time to get the on-the-ground expertise of residents, identify and prioritize hotspots, and update our policies and traffic calming will take years to spread throughout the city. But I have heard you loud and clear - you have asked me to work towards decreasing speeding in your communities and neighbourhoods – and through extensive research, international best practices, and clear science, I am proud to support this practical and plausible way forward.

I hope you can support this too, and I hope to hear from you.

Gian-Carlo Carra