Whoop-Up speed limit permanantly drops to 70 kh/h
By Lethbridge Herald on December 11, 2025.
A digital sign has been placed at the top of the Scenic Drive off ramp to Whoop-Up Drive to informed residents of the new speed limit set to improve safety, the city says this is to reduce the risk of serious collisions.Alejandra Pulido-Guzman
Lethbridge Herald
The speed on Whoop-Up Drive has been permanently changed to 70 km/h to improve road safety and reduce the risk of serious collisions.
Darwin Juell, general manager of transportation and transit said the change of speed has been in the works for the last few years.
“We are keeping the speed limit at 70 km/h and while it can be lowered for accidents, we’re not planning on adjusting the speed limit for inclement weather any longer,” said Juell.
He shared that between 2020 and 2024, there was 128 collisions on Whoop-Up Drive with a total of 36 people injured, three of them seriously.
“Also, traffic 20 years ago was 30,000 vehicles per day and now it’s 50,000 vehicles per day on Whoop-Up. With that many vehicles all running over peak hours it gets congested, people are driving different speeds and accidents are occurring,” said Juell.
He added that consistency also plays a factor in this decision, as this speed is also consistent with the Provincial speed on Highway 3 that ranges from 70 and 80 km/h through Lethbridge.
“The speed reduction only adds 31 seconds to the 2.7 km trip, a minimal increase in travel time that significantly increases safety,” said Juell.
Greg Adair, Lethbridge Fire and Emergency Services Chief said whenever a speed limit is reduced, it enhances public safety.
“Reducing the speed limit on Whoop-Up from 90 to 70 km/h we will see less collisions because people will have more time to react and avoid accidents,” said Adair.
He added that if an accident was to occur, lower speeds reduce the kinetic energy involved in a collision, leading to fewer high-severity injuries and greater survivability.
“The workload that we will respond to from an emergency services standpoint will will be reduced going forward,” said Adair.
Inspector Russell Lawrence, Lethbridge Police Service Field Operations Division said LPS supports the adjustment of the speed limit on Whoop-Up Drive as it enhances public safety.
“A lower speed limit gives drivers more time to react and adjust to steep grades, environmental factors, narrow shoulders, heavy traffic and the unexpected, all of which can contribute to the cause of collisions,” said Lawrence.
He said LPS is asking drivers to be mindful of the 70 km/h limit and adjust their speeds accordingly to help make the commute safer for everyone who travels Whoop-Up Drive daily.
“Our Traffic Response Unit patrol members will monitor and enforce the new limit as they would with any other roadway in the city,” said Lawrence. “The goal is prevention and Traffic Safety, preventing collisions, preventing injuries and keeping the road users safe.”
17-16
So instead of traffic going +100kph it will be doing +80. Slower and very likely safer.
So Mr.Juell says this speed change has been in the works for several years. Why did the City waste money on the display boards and lighted changeable speed signs? Not to mention crew labour to change the speed back and forth.
128 collisions in five years, but on a corridor that busy, that’s hardly alarming. And while Highway 3 technically provides another river crossing, it doesn’t function as real redundancy for commuters.
The core issue isn’t speed. It’s outdated design, narrow margins for error, and the city’s long-standing reluctance to invest in meaningful upgrades. The new limit doesn’t solve these problems; it just avoids the harder conversation.