Drivers in San Diego will want to double check those speed limit signs before racing to work after the city cut the speed in several zones in hopes of eliminating traffic related deaths and injuries.
Crews have already started putting up the lowered speed limit signs in high-traffic areas and near an elementary school in the city including the border town of San Ysidro and nearby Otay Mesa, FOX5 San Diego reported.
It’s all part of the city’s aspirational new plan called Vision Zero, for what officials hope will equal to zero fatalities or serious injuries in traffic accidents on roads in the area.
Both cities where the changes have been made are in San Diego’s district 8, where there were several pedestrian fatalities and numerous serious injury accidents involving car crashes, motorcyclists and bicyclists over the past few years, per the city’s website.
The city council passed its budget in June, which advances the plan officials said is designed to make the city’s streets safer for cyclists, drivers and pedestrians.
“Street safety is public safety,” said Council President Joe LaCava.
“The safety measures included in today’s budget advance the shared priorities the coalition and I hold by making driving, walking, and cycling safer.”
“The recent tragedies in my district are a painful, and constant reminder why we must continue making these critical investments,” he added.
The plan includes $2.4 million in “speed management” which lowers the speeds near “targeted safety corridors” and near schools throughout the city.
Laura Keenan, co-founder of the non-profit group Families for Safe Streets San Diego, celebrated the council’s move after losing her husband to a preventable traffic crash, per the website.
“Today’s decision is an investment in preventing future tragedies and making our streets safer for everyone,” Keenan said.
“We’re grateful the City Council chose to preserve the team responsible for designing the safety improvements that help save lives.”
Keenan’s organization-made up “of families who have lost loved ones to traffic crashes or been affected” personally-helped promote the Vision Zero plan.
Somewhere around 3,000 speed limit signs across the city will eventually be changed to reflect the lower limit, with all of them to be completed by mid-2027, per the city.
A new state law gives cities sweeping authority to slash speed limits on busy roads, including cutting them by up to 5 mph on corridors with a history of deadly or serious crashes and on streets packed with sidewalks, bike lanes, transit stops and other pedestrian hotspots.
Cities can now lower speed limits to 25 mph — or even 20 mph — on commercial streets where shoppers, parked cars and frequent crosswalks create heavier foot traffic.
School zones are getting an even bigger slowdown. Local officials can reduce speed limits to 15 mph or 20 mph within 500 feet of schools, while nearby approach streets can be posted at 25 mph.
Exactly where all the changes will take place and by how much in each area the speeds will be cut is unclear.
