City of Lethbridge permanently dropping Whoop-Up Drive top speed to 70 km/h

The City of Lethbridge says that Whoop-Up Drive won't be returning to its max speed of 90 kilometres per hour.

Most drivers have been waiting patiently for the max speed on the Whoop-Up Drive bridge to return to 90 km/h.

That day will never come.

Even with repairs to the bridge essentially finished, the speed limit will remain at 70 km/h.

It’s part of a new push by the city to increase safety on the bridge.

“In order to reduce accidents and at least minimize the severity of those accidents that do happen, we’re maintaining 70 km/h now,” said City of Lethbridge transportation manager Darwin Juell.

Motorists have been dealing with reduced speeds on Whoop-Up Drive since a truck hit the underside of the bridge on Aug. 6.

The city says it had been considering changing the speed even before the repair work.

“We just said, let’s do it now rather than waiting six months because we’ve put it up to 90 and then go back down to a 70. So, we just thought now is timely to do it. And it doesn’t matter if it’s winter or summer, it’s just timely to do it just because it’s improving the safety,” said Juell.

Accidents

Whoop-Up Drive has seen its share of accidents.

There were 128 collisions on the bridge between 2020 and 2024.

That led to 36 injuries, with three of those being serious.

First responders say dropping the speed limit will likely lead to fewer accidents on the bridge.

“What we know is any time that we reduce the speed, that enhances public safety. By reducing the speed from 90 to 70 on Whoop-Up Drive, we will see less collisions,” said Lethbridge Fire and Emergency Services chief Greg Adair.

The speed change is estimated to add about 30 seconds to a trip.

The city is expecting quite a bit of pushback from residents.

“With the reduction in the speed limit through the course of the last number of months, personally, driving on there, I do notice that traffic has slowed down. So, I think it’ll just be a continued natural transition,” said Lethbridge police Insp. Russell Lawrence.