No speed reduction on Highway 646 into Elk Point

Alberta Transportation has denied a request from the Town of Elk Point to reduce the speed limit entering the community up to to the golf course southwest of town.

In January, the Elk Point Golf and Country Club requested support from the Town in an application to Alberta Transportation to slow down traffic from the intersection of Highway 41 west past the entrances to the town, the fish pond, the transfer station, and the recreation grounds. The request was to reduce the speed from 100 km/hr to 70 km/hr.

The response from Alberta Transportation was, “experience indicates a reduced speed is not well adhered to in rural areas, as it doesn’t match drivers’ expectations. This observation is important as driver expectation would be for a constant high speed on this highway as opposed to a reduced speed in an urban setting.”

“When speed limits are set below the standard level at which the majority of drivers consider reasonable, even with additional enforcement, a high level of non-compliance may occur. This leads to driver frustration and greater variance of speed which increases collision risk, particularly rear-end collisions.”

Without the approval of Alberta Transportation, the Town does not have the authority to reduce the speed.