CALGARY -- A proposal to lower the speed limit in Calgary's residential areas has been approved by a city committee.

The transportation and transit committee met Wednesday to discuss a proposal to lower the speed limit on neighbourhood roads without a middle line from 50 km/h to 40 km/h.

After the meeting, the motion passed with a vote of 7-3.

Councillors Sean Chu, Jeromy Farkas and Joe Magliocca voted against the proposal. They claimed the change will include a price tag of $2.3 million to change signage and create a city-wide playground zone.

Ward 6 councillor Jeff Davison says the money is already there to use.

"What we're doing here is reprioritizing what we've heard from citizens and allocating the funds that are already allocated within the transportation budget to this project. There is no new funding required because of this."

According to statistics from the city, there are almost 37,000 crashes on Calgary roads annually. Roughly a quarter of those accidents occur within communities.

Council is expected to debate and vote on the motion next week. If it passes, the new speed limit could take effect in April 2021.