Prioritizing safety on Whoop-Up Drive

To improve road safety, the City of Lethbridge is setting a new, consistent speed limit of 70 km/h on Whoop-Up Drive. This decision is intended to reduce the risk of serious collisions, and potentially tragic consequences, along one of the city’s busiest corridors.

An extensive review of Whoop-Up Drive noted several safety concerns:

• Narrow shoulders: there isn’t much room for a car to pull over or for first responders to work safely, and drivers don’t have much space to recover before they hit a solid barrier.
• Concrete barriers: the barriers sit right next to travel lanes, so any mistake on the road leads to a high impact collision, not a safe recovery maneuver.
• Steep grades: the eight per cent grades on Whoop-Up Drive increase stopping distances, speed differences and winter risks.
• High/increasing traffic: current volume of about 50,000 vehicles per day raises the risk of rear-end crashes, lane conflicts and barrier impacts.
• Collisions: a higher rate of collisions has resulted in personal injury, property damage and traffic delays that compromise emergency response times.

“The current 90 km/h speed limit on Whoop-Up Drive no longer reflects modern safety standards,” says Joel Sanchez, Director of Infrastructure Services. “Adjusting the limit to 70 km/h reduces the risk of tragic collisions and makes sure every driver, passenger and first responder has a safer journey across the river.”

Collisions statistics also support a speed reduction on Whoop-Up Drive. This stretch of road, between Scenic Drive South and University Drive West, saw 128 collisions between 2020 and 2024. A total of 36 people were injured, three of them seriously. Aggressive driving, including unsafe speeds, was a cause in 51 of 128 collisions.

“Every collision we investigate reminds us how suddenly lives can change,” says Insp. Russ Lawrence, Lethbridge Police Service Field Operations Division. “A lower speed limit gives drivers more time to react. The LPS Traffic Response Unit will ensure the new limit is enforced as part of our ongoing commitment to public safety.”

At 90 km/h, hitting a barrier carries a high risk of severe injury. Adjusting the speed to 70 km/h cuts impact by about 40 per cent.

"Lower speeds reduce the kinetic energy involved in a collision, leading to fewer high-severity injuries and greater survivability," says Greg Adair, Lethbridge Fire and Emergency Services Chief. "Even modest speed reductions can significantly shorten stopping distances, giving drivers more time to avoid a crash or lessen the force of impact.”

The speed reduction adds only 31 seconds to the 2.7 km trip – a minimal increase in travel time that significantly increases safety.

Consistency also plays a factor in this decision, as it eliminates the need to lower speeds during winter road conditions. The speed will remain at 70 km/h year-round. It is also consistent with the Provincial speed on Highway 3 that ranges from 70 and 80 km/h through Lethbridge.

“This consistency helps eliminate confusion and frustration from motorists,” says Sanchez. “Our priority is protecting people, and we are confident this change will help ensure that community members arrive home safely.”

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