The City of Charlottetown has begun experimenting with traffic calming measures to force vehicles to move more slowly along residential streets.

'We've discovered just in one afternoon of trial two things that are going make this better.'— Coun. David MacDonald

The city's war on speeders dates back to 2006. It started with a debate on photo radar, but when the province wouldn't move on legislation to allow tickets with photo radar evidence it simply upped the budget for traffic policing.

Last month the city announced it would narrow certain side streets to one-way in places, making vehicles watch for and yield to oncoming traffic. Its first test of that system was Friday afternoon. Temporary barriers were put up on Ambrose Street.

"I'm pleased to say we instituted some [traffic calming measures] on a trial basis last Friday," Coun. David MacDonald, chair of the protective and emergency services committee, told council Monday night.

"We had a chance to talk to some of the neighbours there. We learned some things from it. We're going to go back and reconfigure some of the barriers we have put up."

MacDonald says future barriers will be made smaller, and will alternate from one side of the street to the other. That will mean motorists will weave their way down the street, periodically yielding to other vehicles.

"So we've discovered just in one afternoon of trial two things that are going make this better," said MacDonald.

"What we're hoping is between now and the fall that we'll have these in place and we'll move them street-to-street. And then next summer what we try to do then is work them into our budget to make them permanent structures."

MacDonald said while the barriers were up Friday 70 per cent of vehicles were moving at a acceptable speed.