Whoop-Up Drive, shown at 11:46 a.m. on Dec. 10, 2025. The new permanent speed limit is now 70 km/hr. (Photo: City of Lethbridge traffic camera)

By David Opinko

Whoop-Up Drive speed limit now permanently 70 km/hr

Dec 10, 2025 | 12:08 PM

The City of Lethbridge says it is prioritizing safety in a new speed limit reduction.

Effective immediately, the speed limit on Whoop-Up Drive is 70 kilometres per hour.

Darwin Juell, the City’s Transportation Manager, says safety is the main reason for the change.

There have been 128 collisions on the road between 2020 and 2024, resulting in 36 people being injured, three of whom had serious injuries.

The City adds in a news release that aggressive driving, including unsafe speeds, was the cause of 51 of those collisions, or nearly 40 per cent.

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Russ Lawrence, Inspector with the Lethbridge Police Service, says, “Every collision we investigate reminds us how suddenly lives can change. 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.”

By lowering the speed limit from 90 km/hr to 70, the City claims that the impact of those collisions is reduced by about 40 per cent. That means that a collision that might have caused major injuries at higher speeds might instead lead to minor or no injuries.