Traffic & Road Safety Concerns

Requests for infrastructure improvements are subject to the City’s budget approval process for capital projects. Each year in August, the City submits capital project submissions for the capital budget. The capital project submissions are subsequently reviewed by management, senior management, and Mayor and Council for alignment with City plans and Council strategic priorities. The final and proposed capital budget is then approved by Mayor and Council.

Reported concerns with excessive speeding typically go through the following process:

Validation of reported concerns with excessive speeding

A reported concern with excessive speeding is reviewed and validated to confirm the extent of excessive speeding through the following steps:

1. Past reports and requests are reviewed to confirm or validate if road safety concerns have been raised at this location.
2. Data collection is conducted to validate and confirm the extent of concerns with excessive speeding. Typically, the average speed (the speed that 85 percent of vehicles are driving under) is compared to the regulatory speed limit.

Identification of Speed Management Countermeasures

If concerns with excessive speeding are validated, speed management countermeasures are identified. The City has limited tools within its jurisdiction to address speeding and other road safety concerns. Reported concerns with excessive speeding are typically addressed in one or a combination of following ways:

1. The City regularly collaborates with the Government of Yukon and the RCMP on road safety education programs. Usually these are conducted once per year with different themes.
2. The City can propose infrastructure projects to help with speed management such as traffic control, traffic calming devices, etc. Note that not all streets are eligible for traffic calming or infrastructure improvements and that infrastructure projects are subject to the City’s budget approval process for capital projects.
3. The City is limited in its ability to enforce motor vehicle traffic. The City’s Bylaw Services is not authorized to enforce “moving” motor vehicle traffic violations. Speeding and related traffic offences are the jurisdiction of the RCMP.

In keeping with the latest transportation research and best transportation practices and standards, the City does not wish to install “Slow, Children Playing” (or any variation) signage outside of designated playground zones on City roadways. Installation of such signage should not be installed on City roadways for the following rationale:

• These signs (or any variation) are only advisory and are not enforceable.
• These signs are not recognized by the national Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) as an authorized sign.
• Advisory or warning signage are only used for warning drivers of irregular, unusual, or temporary road conditions or features on or adjacent to the roadway. The presence of children on or adjacent to a roadway is not an irregular, unusual, or temporary road condition or feature.
• Use of the signage in some places and not others may imply to drivers that children are only present where the signage exists.
• Installation of these signs would imply a precedent for the signage to be installed in every neighbourhood since the majority of neighbourhoods have children. The proliferation of such signage would further reduce the value and meaning of such signage.
• Research in several North American jurisdictions has proven that these signs do not reduce pedestrian collisions or lower vehicle speeds.
• These signs can promote a false sense of security to both children and parents/guardians who assume that motorists will be watching out for them or encourage children to play on City roadways, which could result in the City assuming liability for child safety with respect to children playing on roadways.
• Such signs do not provide physical protection for children. There is no substitute for proper supervision and education of children with respect to safety as it relates to traffic.
• Similar signage should only be considered for designated playground zones with proper regulatory measures in place.

A growing body of research suggests a correlation between increased use of signage and driver non-compliance, inattention, and/or distraction. Increased signage may cause “visual clutter” in the built environment further leading to “sign blindness” for drivers. As such, signage should be placed predictably, strategically, uniformly, and coherently throughout a transportation network. Signage is considered a traffic control device and its installation should be used optimally for warning, advisory, or regulatory purposes.

The Street Sign and Traffic Committee is a technical working group of the City of Whitehorse, comprised of subject matter experts and representatives from the City of Whitehorse, the Government of Yukon and the RCMP. The Committee addresses Whitehorse traffic and road safety concerns and provides recommendations for the City of Whitehorse to incorporate into responses or courses of action.

The Street Sign and Traffic Committee is typically comprised of members from the following organizations:

• City of Whitehorse
  • Executive Assistant, Legislative Services (Administrator)
  • Environmental Coordinator, Engineering Services
  • Manager, Bylaw Services
  • Manager, Engineering Services (Backup Chair)
  • Manager, Road and Fleet Maintenance
  • Manager, Transit Services
  • Parks Leadhand, Parks
  • Supervisor, Traffic Control, Road and Fleet Maintenance
  • Transportation Engineer, Engineering Services (Chair)
• Government of Yukon
  • Manager, Road Safety, Transport Services, Department of Highways and Public Works
  • Traffic Engineer, Transportation Engineering Branch, Department of Highways and Public Works
• RCMP
  • Corporal, Whitehorse Detachment
  • Corporal, Yukon Traffic Services