A San Diego City Council committee on Thursday advanced a plan to lower speed limits on more than 679 miles of streets in an effort to reduce traffic deaths and injuries.
The proposed Comprehensive Speed Management Plan is an effort to implement AB 43, a state law that gives cities more authority to set speed limits based on safety data. The plan awaits a hearing at the full City Council.
Historically, California's speed limits were based on actual travel speeds measured in traffic surveys. Critics said this allowed unsafe driving to become normalized and prohibited police from enforcing speeding laws on dangerous and collision-prone corridors.
Last year, the City Council voted to lower speed limits in so-called "business activity districts" as allowed under AB 43. The change impacted only a small fraction of the city's roadway network.
The latest plans would expand the lower speed limits to school zones, corridors with high pedestrian or bike traffic and streets that have seen a high number of fatal or serious injury collisions.
City staff estimate it will take another year and $2.4 million to install new speed limit signage on all the impacted street segments. Street safety advocates and city staffers acknowledged that signage alone is not enough to change driver behavior, and that changing a street's design can be more effective at slowing down traffic.
"We know that speed is one of the biggest determinants of the result of a crash, and that slow speeds save lives," said Ian Hembree, advocacy and community manager for the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition. "We hope that this plan is approved and that the funds needed to implement the plan are allocated as part of next year's budget."
AB 43 allows cities to set speed limits at 15 miles per hour on two-lane streets within 500 feet of schools. Within 500 to 1,000 feet of schools, speed limits can be set at 25 miles per hour.
Councilmember Stephen Whitburn said despite the city's efforts, traffic deaths are still too high.
"Clearly there is much more that has to be done," Whitburn said. "And as we heard today in the presentation and many of those speaking, vehicles traveling at unsafe speeds are a big part of the problem."
