7/27/2019 Whitemud Freeway Speed Limit Changes
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ROUTING Transportation Committee | DELEGATION - B. Belcourt/G.
CebrykAugust 21, 2013 Transportation Services CR_238Page 1 of 2
Whitemud FreewaySpeed Limit Changes
Recommendation:That the August 21, 2013, TransportationServices
report CR_238, be received forinformation.
Report Summary
This report provides a review of theexisting posted speed limit
onWhitemud Drive within the City ofEdmonton limits and summarizes
theoutcomes of this review.
Previous Council/Committee Action
At the May 15, 2013, TransportationCommittee meeting, the
followingmotion was passed:
That Administration provide a report toCommittee on the review
andevaluation of the speed limit changeson the entire length of the
WhitemudFreeway.
ReportTransportation Services uses guidelinesthat follow
national practice to establishthe posted speed limit on the
cityroadways. These guidelines take intoaccount many roadway
characteristicsincluding the vertical and horizontalalignment, lane
widths, roadway clearzones, and the spacing between theinterchanges
in determining the
appropriate posted limits for roadways.The maximum speed at
which aroadway operates safely and effectivelyis dependent on the
geometric elementsthat are selected based on the roadwaydesign
speed.
A review of speed limits usingTransportation Association of
Canadaguidelines and the roadway designspeeds indicated that the
followingconstraints exist that require maintainingthe current
posted speed limit:
Sharp horizontal curves north ofQuesnell Bridge and south of
53
Avenue Left hand exit at Terwillegar Drive Close spacing of
interchanges
from 91 Street to 111 Street Limited sight distance at
several
underpasses and vertical curves
Administration reviewed the recentspeed data collected from west
of 34Street on the east end of WhitemudDrive, through to west of
178 Street onthe west side of Whitemud Drive to gaina better
understanding of the currentoperating speed profiles in
off-peaktimes of day when traffic is flowing freely(i.e. not
reduced due to high trafficvolumes). This data indicated that
theaverage speed on Whitemud Drivethroughout the city is close to
the postedspeed limit. The 85 percentile speed(the speed at which
85 percent of freeflowing vehicles travel at or below) is inthe
range of 10 km/h over the postedspeed limit.
The Citys recent experience on speedprofiles on major city
roadways,indicates that drivers average speedsare typically close
to the posted speedlimit and 85 percentile speeds can be in
the range of 10 km/h over the postedspeed limit in free flow
conditions. TheWhitemud Drive speed data reviewindicates a similar
trend and, therefore,is conducive to the current posted speedlimit
of 80 km/h throughout the corridor.Posting a speed limit higher
than the
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