Guidelines for Determining Speed Limits on Municipal Roadways

Summary:

Minnesota city officials considering changes to their speed limits now have a roadmap to guide their decision process. In 2019, the Minnesota Legislature passed an update to its original speed limit statute, granting cities within the state the authority to revise statutory speed limits on their roadways without conducting tests that were formerly required. To equip these officials with information needed to change speed limits, researchers developed a series of guidelines for decision-making and implementation of speed limit changes. Investigators collected speed limit research, traffic data and collision statistics within Minnesota and across North America to discover not only how municipalities set effective speed limits, but also whether speed limit reductions change the behavior of drivers. The resulting guidelines emphasize gathering relevant data and input from different community partners, as well as clear communication to drivers and a follow-up assessment on drivers’ responses to new speed limits. As alternatives to speed limit modification, the researchers outline other strategies with proven results in lowering pedestrian and bicycle collisions.

Final Deliverables:

• Report #2023RIC07
• Research Summary

Related Materials:

• CEAM Webinar: LRRB Research Results on Local Speed Limits  - (Video/Webinar)
• Guidance for Cities Considering Speed Limit Changes  - (Blog Post)

Related Research:

• Impact of speed limit changes on urban streets