Speed limits on some B.C. highways to hit 120 km/h

This is awesome. I love democracy at work. These are all highways I drive regularly and these are all excellent changes to speeds and policies.

Cool

The only issue I see is with the Parksville North to Campbell River one. Coming south when you hit the Alberni Cut off at Qualicum Beach the traffic becomes more like Vancouver during rush hour than a super highway and willl likely lead to alot more accidents.

I would have preferred them to put the speed limit up once you got North of Qualicum Beach where the traffic thins out. But, it'll be interesting to see how much money this generates for the province when people forget that the speed drops down to 90 at a couple of intersections on the highway.

I do believe the 5 year plan is they are going to be getting rid of the 2 southernmost stop lights at the same time they re pave the highway.

Alberni south is only bad when it's ferry traffic and some rush hour. but people need to drive for conditions. if you are driving too fast for conditions you should be shot. I do believe part of the plan is to cut down on dangerous drivers.

Most major highways in Canada with the 100km/h speed limit are hold-overs from days past when cars weren't near as well engineered. Most highways in Canada should be at least 120 becasue that's the speed most everyone is traveling anyways.

About time. One of the things I always tweak on is driving up to the Peace Arch at 70mph (112kph) and then leaving it at 80kph.

I don't think Canadians are good enough drivers for this. The Island HWy seems to hae a lot of crashes already. The Coquihalla has many cars struggling to even do 110, the current speedlimit, on the way up, and has yahoos that think they have to do the speedlimit no matter what the road conditions. Traffic already often does more than the limit, so now what, people will average 140? I've driven back on Hwy 1 on a long weekend doing 90 mph (as it was in those days) to just keep up with traffic.

Too bad, the Island Hwy is a nice, scenic road - should slow traffic down, not speed it up. Relax and enjoy the drive.

We do need better training. That said, I've always done 120 on the roads that are now 120. not because I was in a rush, just that's the speed I'm comfortable driving those roads (and it's the tipping point for fuel milage in my truck). The speed limit change wont change my speed, but it will ensure I'm never pulled over.



That's what the old island highway is for. The new island highway is a thoroughfare, not a tourist drive.

Count your blessings. I swear they'll make you get out and push your car through every tunnel and across every bridge in Vancouver soon.
Did they increase Marine Drive to 80 or 90 like it SHOULD BE? Or is it still a 50 kmh ticket trap?

Do they mean some, or some ? Last time I was there wayyyy back in '86 there was at least 2 where the limit was 120km/h.

I do believe the 5 year plan is they are going to be getting rid of the 2 southernmost stop lights at the same time they re pave the highway.

Alberni south is only bad when it's ferry traffic and some rush hour. but people need to drive for conditions. if you are driving too fast for conditions you should be shot. I do believe part of the plan is to cut down on dangerous drivers.

You do realise that the Parksville, Qualicum area is populated with the blue hair, Country Kitchen crowd which means driving for conditions is going 40kmph in the 120 zone because, "it's safer that way Martha and we can miss all those pesky lights on Highway 19A".

Actually 19 North from the Alberni cutoff has relatively few accidents when you compare it to the Goldstream to Qualicum Beach stretch. What gets the press is that most of the accidents on the North end of 19 are fatalities because people drive to fast for road conditions, especially in winter and for the record if you aren't driving 130kph on that stretch you get passed like you're standing still.

Count your blessings. I swear they'll make you get out and push your car through every tunnel and across every bridge in Vancouver soon.
Did they increase Marine Drive to 80 or 90 like it SHOULD BE? Or is it still a 50 kmh ticket trap?

Marine Drive is still 50 kph, Marine Way varies between 50 and 90kph.

Passenger car tires are only designed for 130km/h. Approaching that speed, they will degrade and wear faster. If any vehicle with a 'P' rated tire exceeds 130km/h for an extended period, especially in summer, expect to see more tire blowouts and catastrophic accidents.

Highways might accommodate those speeds, but cars and people might not be able to.