A local man wants to see the 30 kilometre per hour speed zone near École Arthur Meighen School eliminated. David Wiebe started the petition about two weeks ago, to have the reduced speed zone for the school eliminated, and is already closing in on 400 signatures. He says part of the reason he doesn't understand the reduced limit, is because another school in the city is in a very similar situation, but the speed has remained 50 km/h. 

David Wiebe

"People aren't seeing how it's different than the speed zone at Fort la Reine. They're both on provincial highways, they both have fences. As a matter of fact, the fence at Arthur Meighen is higher. They both have sidewalks, and Arthur Meighen also has a ditch on the side of the road. A kid would have to scale a fence, cross the sidewalk, and go through the ditch to get on to the road. They're not going to do that."

He also notes while the reduction may have been necessary when Arthur Meighen was a high school, students at this point aren't allowed to leave the property during the school day. Wiebe feels the reduced speed is actually creating a more dangerous situation. He's heard of drivers becoming impatient, and becoming distracted due to the congestion in the area. However, he's also concerned about emergency services response times.

"It's more congested because it's 30 km/h. If an ambulance is coming through there, people are trying to pull over but there's not even a shoulder to pull on to. The ambulance is being slowed down significantly, so that's a considerable problem for anyone whose life is on the line, and seconds count."

Wiebe says he decided to start the petition after discussing the issue with a few friends. From there, he heard from city hall that he'd have to make a delegation before council to call for the change.

"One or two people from city hall had responded and said I'd have to come a present the case, and make a good case for it. I thought one or two people speaking their mind is probably not going to make city hall change their mind, so maybe a petition with some showing of support behind what we're saying would make a difference."

Wiebe also notes Manitoba Public Insurance statistics show following too closely, something he's seen in the area, is responsible for 16 per cent of all collisions. Overall he's hoping council will take the petition, and its supporters, into consideration and remove the reduced speed zone in that area.