40 km/h speed limit takes effect on most residential streets in Calgary

Calgary's new 40 km/h speed limit went into effect on Mondayfor residential side streets.

The city says that of the nearly 9,000 collisions a year on Calgary side streets, about 550involve injuries, some fatal.

City council approvedlowering thespeed limit from 50 to 40km/h in February, in a bid to improve road safety in neighbourhoods.

Senior city traffic safety engineer Tony Churchill saidthe plan is driven by public safety.

"At the end of the day, about a quarter of all collisions happen in our neighbourhood roadways, and so this is just a small change, which, in general, matches up with how people are behaving. Just slowing down a little bit will improve safety for Calgarians in their neighbourhoods," he said.

Work crews have installed about 5,000 new speed limit signs over the past few months.

Thecity has estimated the speed reductionwill save at least $8.1 million a year in costs associated with everything from fatalities to property damage, as well as reducenoise levels.

Const. Randy Macdonald said city police areplanning an engagement and education approach at first as drivers adjust. However, he added,speeding won't be tolerated once that grace period ends.

"For probably a couple of week here, we're going to key in on education and get the word out that this has happened," he said.

The city's website has a map showing where thelower speed limitsare ineffect.