The step follows similar moves in neighbouring municipalities such as Victoria and Saanich
"Esquimalt is moving ahead with a plan to lower speed limits to 40 km/h on major roads and 30 km/h on neighbourhood and residential streets in the township."
I agree with the 30km/h on residential streets. No one needs to go fast down in the burbs and houses where kids and dogs and driveways are, especially if there are larger arteries nearby to get you to a highway or something where the speed limit is 50-60.
40km/h down a commercial district would definitely drive me nuts though.
I wonder whether that's not to drop the 'through' traffic. Is Esq used a lot for people commuting into town, as they pitch whenever they want to build a bridge, or are they intending the roads to be used only for local traffic?