City of Winnipeg Road Signing and Amber Light Issues

By: Chris Sweryda

MUTCD
The MUTCD is Canadas national signing manual published by the Transportation Association of Canada.
Winnipeg has no other signing manual and claims to adhere to the MUTCD. The MUTCD provides guidance for the placement and proper use of all types of road signs.

National Signing Standards

Signs are installed per the guidelines of the

Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices of Canada (MUTCD)

Winnipeg has claimed numerous times that signs are installed through the guidance of the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD)

Municipal Signing Standards

Warning and regulatory signs should
be installed as close as possible to the edge of the roadway, and not more than 3 metres back from curb face.

In addition to national (MUTCD) standards, Winnipeg has internal policies known as Technical Standards and Practices

Contents
Part A Basic Signing Issues A1 Turn Control A3 Truck Routes A5 One-Way Streets Part B Speeding B1 Sign Placement B3 Sign Size B5 Speed Reductions B7 Unless Otherwise Posted Part C Pedestrian Signing C1 Pedestrian Crossings Part D - Enforcement D1 Where is Photo Radar? D3 Intersection Cameras Part E - Amber Lights E1 The Dilemma Zone Part F Courts and the Highway Traffic Act Part G - Closing A2 Lane Control A4 Merging

B2 Dual Mounting (Signing) B4 Reflectivity B6 Proper Maintenance

C2 School and Playgrounds D2 Where are the Speed Signs? D4 Photo Enforcement Signs E2 Proper Timing

Part A - Basic Signing Issues

1 Turn Control 2 Lane Control 3 Merging Vs. Yielding 4 Truck Route Signing

A1 - Turn Control Prohibitive Vs. Mandatory

Controls all lanes on the roadway

+
+
Prohibitive (red) signs inform a motorist of a movement that is not legal and allows for any other movements.

=
=

Mandatory (green) signs are used when only one movement is permissible.

Sign Quantity

Every intersection with turn control signs has anywhere from one to four signs. Four signs is excessive and one is under signed. Police always enforce the locations that are under signed.

Enforcement

The part-time no left turn at the intersection of Empress NB and SB at Ellice is enforced daily by police. Unlike other intersections, the near side and advance signs are absent.

Non-Enforcement

The intersection of Ellice westbound at Berry uses a near side no left turn sign (left) and has an advance warning sign (right). This location is almost never if at all enforced by police.

Mandatory Sign Use One Way

Mandatory signs should always be used when only one movement is possible because prohibitive implies that other movements are allowed. Many locations have prohibitive signs even though only one movement is possible and is especially confusing when one-way streets are involved.

Some Signs are Too Restrictive

Mandatory signs are unique from prohibitive because they have a high potential to conflict with intended legal movements. This location prevents right turns into the private parking lot. A no left turn with U turn exception tab should have been used here. The above sign is also not in the MUTCD and is illegal in Manitoba.

Conflicts with Other Signs

On McPhillips, using the straight mandatory signs to restrict left movements has also unintentionally restricted right turns. Drivers in the right lane are forced to disobey either the lane control or the turn control sign. A prohibitive no left turn sign should have been here instead.

Not Restrictive Enough

There should be a right turn only mandatory sign here because the through movement is prohibited and the left is a wrong-way movement. There are no turn control or oneway signs to prevent the wrong-way movement.

Unbroken Medians
When a road approaches an unbroken median, a right turn only sign is needed. Usually, 1 or 2 signs (bottom) are used, but some locations have no signs at all (top).

Drivers Expectations Sign Placement

According to research conducted by multiple universities and researchers, a drivers recognition of signs is as dependent on the signs being in a consistent location as the design of the signs. For example, no right turn signs are expected to be on the right side and no left turn signs are expected on the median/left side.

Sign Placement No Right Turn

The three examples (all using two signs) above are from two way streets where the no right turn signs should be on the near and far right corners. Not one corner of the three intersections is consistently signed.

Sign Placement No Left Turn

Both of the above examples are divided roads where No Left Turn signs should only be on the median. This practice should be, but isnt consistent

A2 Lane Control

Unlike turn control signs, these signs regulate only specific lane(s) on the road. They can be found overhead or on either side of the road. They are almost always found on the approaches to intersections and are regulatory; so they must be obeyed.

Lane Drop

A lane drop occurs when a lane terminates (left diagram) at an intersection forcing all traffic in that lane to turn. Lanes can be dropped from both the right and left sides of the road. This is not to be confused with a lane ending (right diagram) or a deceleration lane (middle). A lane drop must be signed with lane control signs before and at the intersection. Overhead guide signs must have a yellow tab stating Exit Only when posted over a lane that is going to drop.

Side Posted Lane Control

When a lane drops, the side mounted lane control signs must be used to indicate the lane termination. Many locations incorrectly use a lane ends sign (left). Some locations use both a lane ends and lane control signs, or have no signing.

Overhead Guide Signs

Many overhead guide signs are missing the Exit Only panel when posted above a lane that drops. The panel is not used over deceleration lanes. The overhead sign on Main northbound approaching Chief Peguis should have the panel, but doesnt.

Enforcement

The mandatory turn for the right lane on McPhillips SB at Inkster is heavily enforced by police. This location only gives 25 m of advance warning for the upcoming lane drop which is just over 1 second for traffic traveling at the speed limit.

Non-Enforcement Locations

Other unenforced lane drops give drivers up to 800 m of advance warning. The normal is usually around 100-150 m.

Dual Left Turns

Many traffic signals are misleading by using an extra left turn display at locations that only have one turn lane. Unlike other cities, lane control signs are not used to clarify the proper message. Both of the above locations have only one turn lane.

A3 Truck Routes

No road in Winnipeg is a truck route unless signed as such (positive marking). Junction signs are posted on the approaches to truck route intersections which use arrows to indicate all permissible directions trucks can travel. Markers are placed immediately after a junction and contain no arrow tabs. City route signs are also truck route signs.

Missing Signs and Placement

Winnipeg is missing 257 or about 40% of required truck route junction signs. Junction signs should be placed on the right side of an approach to an intersection, but are placed anywhere. The red Xs all represent incorrect locations where truck route junction signs are placed.

Incorrect Signs

Error signs often point down non-truck routes such the left sign pointing into the casino parking lot. Some are too restrictive such as the right sign that indicates that a left turn is onto a non-truck route which actually is a truck route.

Hazardous Signs

Improper signs are not only an inconvenience but also a hazard to road users. The above sign is pointing the wrong way down a one-way street at an intersection that is also missing the required one-way signs.

A4 Merging and Yielding

One of the most neglected signs in Winnipeg is merge signing. Complaints to the city have seen some locations fixed but much still needs to be done. Prior to 2010, not a single merge in Winnipeg was properly signed. All locations had or still has one or more signing issues.

Merging Vs. Yielding

At the end of a right turn channel, the MUTCD outlines minimum distances required for acceleration at a merge based on the speed limit. If the acceleration lane is too short, a yield sign is to be used.

Overuse of Yield Signs

Many locations that are obvious merges or even have a lane added are signed with yield signs. This restricts traffic flow and creates disrespect for proper yield locations. About 90% of Winnipegs merge locations are signed with yields.

Signing Conflicts

Some locations have two conflicting signs posted. Although yield and merge signs should never be posted on the same turn channel, some locations are signed like this.

Merge Sign Placement

According to the MUTCD, a merge sign is to be placed between the turn channel and the main road at the point of convergence (green X). Before 2011, all of Winnipegs merge signs were found in numerous locations (red Xs). Some intersections still have this problem.

Missing Merge Signs

Many merge locations have no sign. The Pembina Hwy overpass at Bishop has four onramps to Bishop from Pembina. All four are merges, but only one is signed. The one that is signed has three signs, not one of which is in the location where the sign should be.

A5 One-Way Streets

One-way signs are necessary to indicate streets where only one direction of travel is permitted. A minimum of two signs should be present on each approach to a one-way street but some approaches have no sign.

Near Side Sign

According to the MUTCD, a oneway sign should be placed on the near right approach to an intersection with a one-way street. Most Winnipeg intersections lack this sign.

MIT Signing

MIT standards and practice is to always place a nearside one-way sign on approaches to one-way streets.

Sign Quantity
While many intersections have as few as 1-2 signs, other much smaller intersections have up to four signs. The above picture is a one-way back lane and the bottom is a oneway arterial road/truck route.

4 Signs

1 Sign

Part B Speeding
Speeding is one of the highest contributing causes of collisions in Manitoba. An overall reduction in driving speed CAN and WILL make a difference - WPS. Higher speeds increase stopping distance, increases accident severity and reduces control - MPIC

How to Control Speeding

The most important part of preventing speeding is to properly post speed limits. Unfortunately, Winnipeg has numerous issues with signing related to:

1 Sign Placement 2 Dual Mounting (Signing) 3 Sign Size 4 Night-time Reflectivity 5 Speed Reductions 6 Proper Maintenance

B1 - Sign Placement
Placement of signs is essential to ensuring that a driver will observe and obey them. To ensure uniformity and that signs are within the drivers cone of vision, the MUTCD has outlined standards shown below.

Horizontal Placement

Speed signs are very often found much farther off the road than permitted by both the MUTCD and Winnipegs internal policies.

Vertical Placement

Signs at extreme heights will not fall within a drivers line of sight. The above are both speed reduction signs and not compliant with standards.

B2 - Dual Mounting
The MUTCD states, There are cases where it is advisable to place a second sign on the left side of the road to supplement the primary sign. This practice consists of placing a second sign on the median of a divided or the left side of a one-way street.

Why Dual Sign?

This diagram shows a large truck in the curb lane blocking vehicles in the median lane from seeing a sign on the right. This problem worsens as the lane count gets higher. Measurement Sources: Sightlines - MUTCD, Roadway - MIT (Highways Dept), Truck - Penner Trucking

Sightline Obstructions Demonstration

More Lanes = Less Visibility

40 Cone of Vision-MUTCD

Even without interference from other vehicles, more lanes will increase the distance from a right side sign to a driver in a median lane.

Across Canada

All major western Canadian cities (except Winnipeg) do have at least some dual signed speed signs. This includes Calgary (above-right), Edmonton, Regina, Victoria, Vancouver Saskatoon (above-left). US traffic authorities will also dual sign speed limits. Dual signing is most common at speed changes, but most cities will do it on all large divided roads.

In Winnipeg
Speed limit signs are one of the very few signs in Winnipeg that are never dual signed. The only justification Winnipeg has for this is, it is not our practice.

The black car (middle lane) had no chance of seeing the reduction sign on the right, through the truck. A WPS trap was waiting only two blocks up and before another sign.

Now You See It

Now You Dont

Multiple Lanes

Not one speed reduction in the city is dual signed including NB Main at Assiniboine (above) which has four lanes of through traffic. This is before the most profitable speed camera at Logan. Winnipeg has 58 speed reductions on divided roads where dual signing should be done.

Other Signs in Winnipeg

For almost all other signs, dual mounting can be found for as few as one-lane of traffic (left) and most often for two.

Existent Sign Posts

Even when an existent median pole is available, the speed limit reduction is still not dual signed such as on Taylor EB approaching Harrow where traffic also enters a school zone. The median sign will also distract median traffic from the speed sign on the right.

Within Manitoba

Outside of Winnipeg, MIT dual signs speed reductions.

B3 Sign Size

The MUTCD indicates minimum sizes for road signs and allows for proportional increases when needed for adequate emphasis. The minimum signs are standard sized and larger signs are oversized.

Use of Oversized Signs

The city of Winnipeg policy requires oversized signs when the horizontal placement exceeds 3m. Despite, the abundance of other signs that are oversized at various types of locations, this policy is not followed for speed signs. The No Exit signs below are not only oversized, but are also dual signed for only one lane of traffic.

Highways Dept (MIT)

MIT standards indicate that 90x120cm oversized speed signs are to be used on all divided roadways. Not one speed sign could be found that is out of compliance with this internal standard. Often, field practice is to use these signs on undivided roads and especially at speed reductions such as shown above.

B4 - Reflectivity

Some speed signs in Winnipeg have little to no reflectivity while other signs, often on the same pole, are fully reflective. The first two of the above examples were before photo radar locations that are utilized for night time enforcement.

Speed Signs With Other Signs

Speed signs should be as equally important as other signs. On many roads, every other sign is reflective except the speed sign. This includes the route markers which serve a very little safety advantage.

Provincial Signs

All signs outside of Winnipeg are fully compliant with reflectivity standards.

B5 - Speed Reductions

Sixty-nine out of ninety-eight speed reductions in Winnipeg fail to comply with national signing standards. Every speed reduction signed by the province was within MUTCD compliance. The above sign is minimum sized, too high, too far off the road and as always, not dual signed.

Variable Speed Approaches

Most speed reductions (62 out of 99) in Winnipeg occur at intersections. Of the 45 that are signed, 27 are locations where the speed reduction ahead sign is before and the speed sign after the intersection. This practice creates varying speeds through the intersection. The most extreme case is Moray NB at Portage (80-50 km/h) which is consistently on MPIs list of the 10 most dangerous intersections in Winnipeg.

Moray Example

The speed reduction sign leading into a playground zone is hidden by trees. Also, the truck route markers are dual signed but the speed reduction is not. This location receives daily photo radar enforcement.

Brookside Example

The speed reduction sign on Brookside Blvd was reported missing to the city in June 2011. Despite repeated attempts to notify the city, the signs remained missing. The problem was fixed in October when the province finally installed the signs.

B6 Proper Maintenance

Over time, untrimmed trees will grow to the point that signs are fully covered. Many signs will be left to lean on a 45+ degree angle for years before falling over and laying in the ditch for months before being eventually stolen.

More Disrepair

This speed sign on Ravenhurst was observed in Jan with a broken mounting strap which caused it to turn away from traffic. By mid summer it was still facing away from the road and had fallen upside down. Calls to the city in Jan, Jun and Aug finally saw this fixed in Sept.

B7 Unless Otherwise Posted

The City of Winnipeg claims:

Following this claim, 50 km/h signs must not be selectively used anywhere but at speed reductions.

Selective Signing

Winnipeg has 122 selective 50 km/h speed postings that are not at speed reductions. Selective signing is found in all other major cities across Canada. The problem is that Winnipeg rarely uses these signs on major roadways or at problem speed areas where enforcement is continuous.

Priority Given To Truck Routes

Since no road is a truck route unless signed as such (positive marking), Not A Truck Route signs are not considered needed just like selective Maximum 50 km/h signs. Winnipeg has 334 selective Not A Truck Route signs but only 122 Maximum 50 km/h signs. If a road is large enough that it may be mistaken as a truck route, it is large enough to have the speed limit signed.

Posting Higher Speeds

Unlike Winnipegs claim posting a speed limit would not erode the law, but what does, is not properly signing higher speeds. This makes unsigned 50 km/h zones less distinguishable from poorly signed 60 km/h or higher zones. In higher speed zones, a speed sign should always be found after a route marker (aboveright), but in many cases is not signed (above-left)

Other Cities

Every other major Canadian city uses selective 50 km/h signing to control speeding on major roadways. MIT and other communities in Manitoba do the same. Some cities such as Saskatoon (above) even dual sign selective 50 km/h postings on divided roads.

But In Winnipeg
Hespeler Ave is a 50 km/h major roadway, truck route and numbered city route. It runs between Henderson and Main which are both 60 km/h zones and has the 14th highest producing speed camera and daily photo radar. A request was made to have Maximum 50 km/h signs added and referenced Springfield and McLeod which already have signs; but no enforcement. Even though the city claims to be begging people to just slow down, the citys response was to remove the signs from Springfield and McLeod.

Speed Limit Confusion

Some 50 km/h zones look so much like 60 km/h zones that even the citys own sign crews get confused. The sign above is on a 50 km/h road.

Part C - Pedestrians

The above photo enforcement unit has parked in a no stopping zone blocking the line of sight to a crosswalk.

C1 Pedestrian Crossings

Many pedestrian crossings are missing signs or have backwards signing. The crosswalk above is signed as a school crosswalk on the left and a regular crosswalk on the right.

Pedestrian Warning Signs - Absent

Winnipeg inconsistently uses warning signs for pedestrian crossings. The location above is a truck route, regional road and has sight obstructions to the crossing due to the trees. The left side crossing sign is missing and there are no warning signs for the crosswalk.

Pedestrian Warning Signs - Present

The two above locations have no crosswalks after the warning signs. This greatly reduces the effectiveness of properly used signs.

C2 School and Playground Zones Dual Signing

Many school and playground zone signs are not dual signed. The left picture is from a major arterial road that has daily photo enforcement. The picture on the right is a residential street with no enforcement.

Many Signs are Missing While Enforcement Continues

The median sign on Henderson Hwy has been missing for over two years despite repeated attempts to have the sign fixed. The speed sign is also missing at this location and has seen greatly increased enforcement after the signs went missing.

Winnipeg School Zone Sign Presence

School

Many (166) of Winnipegs school zone signs are missing and have been for >3 years. Traffic on Concordia WB has no sign advising of the upcoming school zone at London Street.

When Signs Are Present, Obstructions Are Common

Even On Major Roads Such As Main Street

The Situation Is Only Getting Worse

In 2009, there were 178 missing school zone signs. In 2012, that number had increased to 206. Other signs are being replaced but school zone signs are neglected.

Elementary Schools

Many of Winnipegs missing school zone signs are at elementary schools and some are on major high volume roads.

Redundant Signs

Some (32) school zone signs are found on roads that do not have schools. This creates an unnecessary expectation of a school and creates disrespect for these signs. Above-Furby NB at Westminster has a school zone sign even though there is no school on Furby. Six of these areas are being used for illegal photo radar enforcement.

Winnipeg School Zone Sign Placement

School zone signs are found at random distances from the schools. In 50 km/h zones, this distance ranges from -75 to 323 m. School School Not In Picture

Cross-Street Interference

Many school and playground zone signs are posted before a major intersection with the zone being after the intersection. Drivers entering the road from the intersection have no way of knowing they are approaching a school or playground.

Solution

The best approach would be to place the signs after the intersection. If this puts the signs too close to the zone, a second sign could be used. This practice of using a second sign is used unnecessarily at other locations such as the residential street above with no cross-street.

School Zone Sign Size

School zone signs in 60 km/h zones are required to be 75x75cm, but many locations use the undersized 60x60cm signs. The zone above has an undersized sign on the median and is missing the sign on the right.

Speed Signing School Zones

School Zone Improper Speed Reduction

Many school & playground zones and crosswalks are located on major roadways with no speed signing or after improperly signed speed reductions.

School Speed Reduction

Many cities do not have speed reductions in school zones. There is no evidence that a lower speed creates safety. School zone speed reductions create a false sense of security and increase speed differentials-City of Edmonton.

Quebec School Zone Speed

Montreal doesnt have a universal reduced speed in school zones, but they do mark the speeds entering school zones.

Montreal Speed Signs

Speed limit signing is very common; especially in areas with high pedestrian traffic.

Part D Photo Enforcement

D1 - Where is Photo Radar?

Under provincial regulation, photo enforcement is only allowed in school, playground and construction zones. Within those restrictions, the city is free to choose where photo radar is deployed. -86% of photo radar occurs in 50 km/h zones -67% of photo radar on arterial roads is in the 40% that has a speed of 50 km/h. Photo radar is usually deployed on major roadways that lack 50 km/h signing and often in the vicinity of higher speeds. Hotspots are: Arlington, Corydon, Des Meuron, Hespeler, McGregor, Mountain, Osborne, Selkirk, Talbot, William All of these are truck routes, arterial, unsigned and connect to higher speed roads.

Sign Placement Variance

School and playground signs are found as close as -75 m and as far as 323 m from the school. Photo radar obviously prefers the extreme zones which put the enforcement well away from the actual zone.

Lack of Secondary Signs

Cross streets that approach schools and playground are required to be signed. Many photo radar locations lack these signs despite the Highway Traffic Act requiring signs on all directions entering a zone. Missing signs are a problem at 40% of photo enforced school zones.

D2 - Where are the Speed Signs?

The City claims that they cannot post speeds in 50 km/h zones and the examples given were all before enforcement. Only 7 out of 122 selective signs in 50 km/h zones are before photo radar. By avoiding placement of speed signs before photo radar, the city is actually avoiding speed signing before schools and playgrounds.

Bishop Grandin Example

There are 6 exits off of Bishop Grandin that have a speed of 50 km/h. Only 3 out of 6 are signed and the 3 that are not signed are photo radar enforced. Since photo radar is only in school and playground zones, roads with these zone are the ones that are left unsigned.

Speed Signs Do Work

There is only one school zone in Winnipeg that has a pair of speed signs dual signed. It is the only zone on Grant not photo enforced and is used in the press for stories regarding school zone safety. The mayor himself held a conference there regarding school safety.

D3 Intersection Cameras
Intersection cameras are as strategically placed as photo radar to avoid speed limit postings. Fifteen out of 18 cameras in 50 km/h zones have no speed signs preceding them. The camera on Provencher (left) is placed a half block before the only speed limit sign.

Top Producers

The top of the cross-bar is at the 3m maximum height allowed in the MUTCD. In many cases, speed reduction 50 km/h signs are posted too high while the 60 km/h signs immediately before the reductions are at perfect height. First example is the reduction at Main NB at Assiniboine (before highest producing speed camera) and second is at Grant/Stafford (before 2nd highest producing speed camera).

Newly Missing Signs

Many speed signs go missing for extended periods of time while ticketing continues. The speed reduction sign on Grant (above) has been missing since July 12, 2012 before one of the citys top producing cameras.

2010 Statistics
Cameras in 50 km/h zones produced 1309 tickets per camera Cameras in 60 km/h+ zones produced 625 tickets per camera To properly sign the speed reduction, before the camera at Grant & Wilton with dual signs and a confirmation sign, would cost about $300 or 0.00032% of 2010 speeding ticket revenue from that location.

D4 Photo Enforcement Warning Signs

At the start of the photo enforcement program in 2002, the province created the Conditions of Authority which Winnipeg had to follow in order to run photo enforcement. In the conditions, Winnipeg had to install permanent warning signs on the approaches to intersections enforced by cameras.

Dual Mounting

To warn traffic in median lanes, all divided approaches to photo enforced intersections had a sign placed on the right and left side. This is especially useful because faster traffic is usually in the median lane Slower Traffic Keep Right.

Signs of Safety

In 2005, Winnipeg Police launched a PR campaign for the cameras. The focus was on the camera warning signing acting as a deterrent and referred to these signs as Signs of Safety.

Recess on Speeding

Radio adds featured a school principal , construction worker , paramedic and a new driver who all talked about the success off the signs of safety. It was stated that citywide, areas where these signs were installed saw a 66% drop in speeding.

Median Sign Removal

One would think the successful results of photo enforcement signing would be good news. Even though these signs were permanent, in the summer of 2009 during e-mail exchanges between Public Works and Winnipeg Police, it was concluded that the camera warning signs on medians would be removed as a sign clean-up effort. This project was conducted immediately and only involved photo enforcement warning signs. A total of 78 out the 87 median signs were removed throughout the city. Of the original total of 257 signs, 179 remained (30% of the signs were removed).

Kenaston at Corydon
The intersection of Kenaston and Corydon where photo enforcement warning signs were claimed to have reduced speeding by 84% was included in the sign removal project. Of the 8 signs at that intersection, 4 ( of the signs) were removed.

Before and after views of Corydon EB approaching Kenaston.

Effects
Camera Statistics from 2008 were compared to 2010. In many cases, ticket counts increased greatly after the median signs were removed. At the 8 locations with 3 or more lanes, tickets increased on average by 17%. On average, all other locations including those that didnt have any signs removed saw a ticket decrease of 16%. Portage EB at Cavalier has the highest lane count of all locations where these signs were removed. It should therefore be the area most effected by median sign removal. In 2010, over 2,000 tickets were issued which was more than twice the amount issued in 2008.

No Signs

With no median signs present, there is no fail safe for when a sign goes missing. The sign on Henderson Hwy approaching Gilmore was missing through all of 2012, while illegal ticketing occurred. It wasnt replaced until October 2012 media coverage. No refunds are being issued.

Part E Amber Light Timing

Red light offences accounted for 20% of intersection camera tickets in 2010. Much of these violations are based on the amber timing at the intersection. Quote: Adjusting Amber Lights..Would Ruin the Photo Enforcement Program -Traffic Sgt. John Butcher, WPS, Oct. 30, 2001 Winnipeg Free Press

E1 The Dilemma Zone

A yellow light should be timed for a motorist to either come to a safe and complete stop or proceed clear through an intersection before the red light is displayed. Improper timing creates the dilemma zone. This is the zone where drivers are unable to come to a stop or clear the intersection before the red light.

How are Ambers Timed?

Proper calculation of an amber time is usually based on three variables: Intersection width, speed limit and grade. Improperly timed ambers create accidents and red light violations.

E2 Proper Timing
Proper amber times are calculated by engineering formula. Below is the formula used by the city of Calgary.

Higher Speed = More Time

It is a proven engineering fact that timing must be based on intersection design and speed. Higher speeds must have more time. Winnipeg is using a universal 4.0 second amber which is inadequate for many higher speeds (80 zones).

Across Canada
The table to the right shows amber times used in 80 km/h zones by major cities across Canada. Winnipeg does appear alone in using a 4.0 second amber in all speed zones.

The proof is in the ticket counts. In 2010, Winnipeg cameras in 50-70 km/h zones issued 164 tickets/camera while cameras in 80 zones produced 979 tickets/camera. Unless Winnipegs red light runners stick to driving in 80 km/h zones, the problem is the timing and not the drivers. Winnipegs most dangerous intersections are almost all in 80 km/h zones and are likely influenced by amber timing.

Effects of Proper Timing

It has been proven that 80% of red light violations occur during the first 1 second of the amber light and will disappear when the amber is timed properly. Winnipeg will not release their data to check this statistic locally. Statistics above show the decreases in violations at sites where ambers had one second added to comply with formula.

Part F - Courts and the Highway Traffic Act

What do all eight of the above speed limit reduction signs have in common?

Answer
All of the signs are legally placed according to the Highway Traffic Act even though they are non-compliant with MUTCD standards. These types of installations are all found in Winnipeg and enforcement has held up in Manitoba courts.
1 Signs are not required to be on the right side of the road. 2 Installation can be at any maximum height above the road. 3 Signs do not have to be reflective. 4 There is no minimum height requirement. 5 Installation can be any distance off the road with no maximums. 6 Trees and other obstructions are allowed. 7 Signs do not have to be straight and can even be upside down. 8 Because speeding is an absolute liability offence, you are guilty even if a sign is not present.

Highway Traffic Act Requirements

1 Signs must face traffic 2 Signs must be of standard design 3 Signs must be of standard dimensions. As long as the above three requirements are met, signs are legal. If the sign isnt legal, the driver is still guilty because speeding is an absolute liability offence.

HTA on Amber Timing

Some amber lights in Winnipeg are below the required 4.0 seconds. Ticketing occurs at 0.1 second into the red, so some tickets are issued after a 3.9 or 3.8 second amber (indicated on tickets). These tickets were challenged in court on the basis that if the signal was properly timed, the vehicle would have entered at the end of the amber and not during the first 0.1 second of the red. The courts have ruled that the HTA does not require an amber time at all, and even if the light goes straight from green to red, you are still guilty if you enter the intersection.

Law Reform
In Ontario, the Highway Traffic Act does specify specific standards for speed limit sign placement (Reg 660). The Law Reform Commission of Manitoba was approached in the summer of 2011 in an attempt to see a similar regulation passed in Manitoba. The final conclusion has been that the commission is not currently interested in making those kinds of changes in Manitoba.

Part G - Closing:

Going forward, there is no evidence that signing will be improved anytime soon. New signs are still being incorrectly placed. The above sign first said south on the NB direction. After a complaint was made, it was changed to north upside down. Another complaint got the issue finally fixed.

Incorrect Signs are Dangerous

This sign on Pembina Hwy is pointing traffic into oncoming lanes.

Temporary Signing
This sign has been upside down on Pembina Hwy for over a week. Many locations with lane closures dont even have a sign at all.

Photo Enforcement Shortcomings

Does not identity or take points from repeat offenders. Doesnt enforce other violations such as DUI or stolen vehicles. Doesnt stop offending vehicles. Many offenders dont receive their tickets because they went to the registered owner. Habitual speeders simply avoid photo enforcement locations. Punishment (receiving ticket) isnt immediate when the crime is happening. Money goes to a private for profit company from outside the country. Does not ticket out of province or obscured plates. And

Obstructs Traffic Flow

At many locations that have parking restrictions during rush hour, photo radar will set-up immediately after the restriction ends in order to ticket the still very busy rush hour traffic. Often for to an hour, photo radar will be the only vehicle blocking a lane of a still busy road. This funnelling effect will get higher speeds due to people rushing to cut in or get past to allow traffic to flow.

Final Points
There is no reason why Winnipeg should see the need to dual sign some signs and not speed signs. The use of other signs on the median (such as school zones) will give drivers a false sense of security that if something as important as a speed reduction should come, it too will be signed on the median. Selective 50 km/h signs are needed on arterial and divided roads. Signs need to be properly installed. Amber times need to be properly timed for individual intersections. Standards need to be developed and followed for school and playground signing. Missing school and playground signs need to be installed in accordance with standards.