Steinbach's Chief Administrative Officer says it will be a little while yet before Steinbach can take over the responsibility of setting speed limits on its streets and roads. Municipalities in Manitoba were given that authority by the province, effective March 1st. But Troy Warkentin says there is another step to take before the city can take over that responsibility.

"The city will have to pass a bylaw which designates the particular roads and speed zones on those roads. That's a process that the province has indicated it would like to have a response with a bylaw in place by local municipalities by September 1st."

The province was previously reluctant to hand over this responsibility out of concern that municipalities lacked the expertise to set speed limits and that decisions could become political instead of being based on fact. Warkentin says the city will take this responsibility very seriously.

"We use traffic consultants in a pretty broad capacity, both for design and consulting when it comes to traffic movements and traffic speeds. We also do have some local expertise within the city's engineering department should that be needed. I expect we will give this due and careful consideration."