Lethbridge Minute: Speed Limits, Attendance Records, and a Supportive Housing Hearing

Lethbridge Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Lethbridge politics

This Week In Lethbridge:

• We hope you are all having a relaxing and enjoyable holiday Monday! There are no meetings this week at City Hall. Perhaps the City decided to turn the last long weekend of the summer into the last long week off of the summer?
  
  
• It looks like the promised flights from Lethbridge to Tuscon, Arizona on Flair Airlines won’t be happening this year. The route was announced in 2022, delayed until 2023, and now, it’s delayed again. Work still needs to be done on the Lethbridge terminal to get it ready for international flights. A boarding ramp must be procured, and the terminal needs a new baggage drop-off and screening area.
  
  
• The new harmonized school and playground zones take effect on Tuesday. All school zones in Lethbridge will be year-round playground zones, with a 30 km/h speed limit in effect from 7:30 am until 9:00 pm.

Last Week In Lethbridge:

• Speaking of speed limits, the City reminded residents that the Residential Speed Limit Pilot Project is rolling out. Speed limits will be lowered to 40 km/h in certain neighbourhoods. The first area impacted will be Paradise Canyon/The Canyons on the west side of the city, beginning on September 15h, followed by Uplands/Blackwolf, and the southern portion of Southgate later on in the year. The pilot project is part of the City’s Transportation Safety Plan, which recommends reducing residential speed limits with the goal of zero transportation-related deaths and serious injuries by the year 2040. Feedback from residents will be collected at various intervals during the multi-year project. You can provide your comments online.
  
  
• Council gave first reading to a bylaw amendment that would allow the Lethbridge Housing Authority to build a supportive housing development on Stafford Drive North. The property is currently vacant, and the proposal is for a facility with 30 supportive units as well as a pharmacy and medical clinic on the site. Currently, the area is not zoned for supportive housing. There will be a public hearing on the matter on September 19th at 3:00 pm.
  
  
• Official numbers are in and this year’s Whoop-Up Days broke attendance records. A total of 77,263 people attended the five-day fair. That number is more than 160% higher than the six-year average, and well above the historical record of 69,964 attendees that was set in 2007. There was also a single-day attendance record set this year - 23,310 visitors came out on Saturday, August 26th. Free gate admission, curiosity about the new Agri-food Hub and Trade Centre, and good weather were all said to be contributing factors.

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