Estevan City Council buckled to the public's wishes Tuesday night, and unanimously approved abandoning a bylaw that would have reduced speed limits from 50 to 40 kilometres per hour for part of Fourth Street.

Council received a petition with more than 1,700 signatures in late August that called for the speed limit on Fourth to remain at 50. City clerk Lyndon Stachoski said the petition was insufficient, since its wording did not specify the affected blocks of Fourth Street. And while there were over 1,700 signatures, there was no civic address included, and numerous people who signed are from outside of Estevan.

The affected blocks would have been from Souris Avenue to 14th Avenue.

But Stachoski recommended that Council abandon the bylaw due to the public outcry.

“Most of the feedback I had received was negative, and so I'm glad to see it over with,” Mayor Gary St. Onge said.

The final vote on the speed limits would have been close, St. Onge said. He was among those who wanted to see the speed limit remain at 50, but he knew of a couple of councillors who supported the reduced speeds.

“We asked for the public's opinion earlier, and it came a lot later than we had asked for, but we did get the input,” St. Onge said.

Council gave first reading to the speed limit bylaw in July. But the decision to abandon the bylaw means that second and third readings likely won’t occur.

Check out Lifestyles, or www.sasklifestyles.com, on Friday for more information on this story and the Council meeting.