School zone speed enforcement in Portage la Prairie came up at city council's last committee meeting, after a resident asked during question period whether councillors would be open to amending the current 24/7, 365 day per year 30 km/h restrictions in all zones not facing Saskatchewan Avenue.

The question prompted Mayor Irvine Ferris — who championed efforts to implement lower school zone speed limits in Portage la Prairie when he was a councillor — to reiterate safety reasoning tied to the restrictions. Other councillors weighed in as well, with both Coun. Wayne Wall and Coun. Ryan Espey saying they're comfortable with the current enforcement.

“Every six months this question will come up, and it's good the question is asked, because it takes us back to why we do this in the first place,” Ferris explained. “Is it working? Yes, it absolutely is. We haven't had any injuries, no deaths, the last time we had close calls was in late 2006. We never want to see any more pedestrian accidents and we know that when we lowered the speed limits we reduced the severity of injuries if there is a collision.”

However, both Coun. Liz Driedger and Coun. Brent Budz said they're open to amending the current school zone speed limits. Budz has long been opposed to Portage's adopted model of enforcement.

“I was never in favour of having the 24/7, 365 day a year school zones,” he said. “I feel that we are dealing with an educated public that can understand there are differences in speed zones at a given time of the year and time of the day.”

“It is a proven method that's used in many other municipalities,” continued Budz. “I was asked if I would support an amendment, and yes I would.”

Mayor Ferris said the issue with altering speed restrictions to a model similar to Winnipeg — where reduced school zone limits are only in effect between 9 a.m., to 5:30 p.m., during the school year —  is it can lead to driver confusion and increased opportunity for ticketing.

“The community has to look at its priorities as pedestrian safety or raising revenues. Our commitment to citizens of Portage was pedestrian safety,” says Mayor Ferris. “In certain cities ... there is potential for a lot greater revenue because of photo radar and driver confusion. In Portage there is no driver confusion, it's 30 km/h in a school zone, 24/7. And absolutely everybody knows that.”

According to past reports, Portage la Prairie moved to the current 30 km/h enforcement standard in September 2014. Ferris led efforts to establish lower speed zones as far back as 2010, when he was chair of the public safety committee. The city wasn't able to impose speed limits under Manitoba's Highway Traffic Act then, until the Association of Manitoba Municipalities lobbied the province to change legislation in 2012 to the current standard that allows municipal governments to set maximum speed limits lower than 50 km/h.

Council re-visited Portage's school zone restrictions in 2015 after letters from citizens urged the city to adapt time- and seasonal-restricted enforcement, similar to Winnipeg. Reports indicate the RCMP said the lower limits had reduced speeds around the city. School administrators were also consulted and favoured lower speed limits around schools. However, most questioned the logic of around the clock enforcement. Councillors voted to maintain the school zone restrictions established in 2014.