This project will increase the safety for pedestrians, cyclists, individuals using other modes of travel (e.g., wheelchairs), and vehicles in Oliver by reducing the speed of vehicles on roads. Speed cushions will be installed on Lakeside Road at Rotary Beach, and on Spartan Street in front of Oliver Elementary School. These locations were identified in the Town’s 2018 traffic calming report as requiring additional traffic calming measures.

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Vehicle speed is a concern in Oliver for several reasons:

1. The Town has a speed monitoring system that it temporarily sets up in key locations in the community – for example, in a posted 30 km/h zone, the average speed was 51 km/h (with a high of 101 km/h);
2. The Town’s Public Works Manager receives public inquiries about speed on key roads with members of the public sharing concerns about speed;
3. Town staff observe high vehicle speeds on certain roads;
4. In 2018, the Town worked on a traffic calming study that identified the importance of investing in improvements to road infrastructure to support reduced vehicle traffic;
5. The Town’s Accessibility Plan, the Town’s Social Development Plan, and the Town’s Age Friendly Plan identify making improvements to the Town’s built environment to support everyone in the community (e.g., older adults, individuals with all abilities, younger families with children);
6. The Oliver Active Transportation Plan identifies slowing vehicle traffic to improve the safety of those using active transportation modes;
7. In November 2024, Oliver Town Council approved the installation of this traffic calming approach on Town of Oliver roads to create safer roads for vehicles and others near roads (e.g., pedestrians, cyclists).

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The Town is specifically looking at speed cushions to manage vehicle speeds. The speed cushions will be used as a pilot to monitor and test the effectiveness of this traffic calming method. The speed cushions may then be moved to other locations in the community to attempt to change driver behaviour along specific roads. As the Town owns mobile speed monitoring systems, monitoring of traffic speed and other evaluation activities have been integrated into the project to ensure that the project achieves its outcomes.

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Photo source: AdobeStock. Photo is shown for illustration purposes only and may not be an accurate representation of the project.‍‍

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