Push to lower Chicago speed limit to 25 mph hits a red light in City Council
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A Chicago alderman on Wednesday put the brakes on his effort to lower Chicago's default speed limit from 30 mph to 25 mph, calling off plans for a City Council vote.
Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st) agreed to hold off on a planned vote on his proposal to allow more time for discussion.
The City Council Committee on Pedestrian and Traffic Safety voted to approve the measure in October, but La Spata's move to call off a planned vote by the full City Council on Wednesday signaled he didn't have the votes for final passage.
The ordinance would lower the maximum speed limit on most city streets from 30 mph to 25 mph. It would not affect DuSable Lake Shore Drive or other streets under the jurisdiction of the Illinois Department of Transportation.
Streets with speed limits already lower than 30 mph would not have their existing speed limits lowered any further.
The lower speed limit would not go into effect until Jan. 1, 2026, giving the city time to educate drivers about the change, and to replace affected speed limit signs on city streets. Officials estimated it would cost the city $3 million to change speed limit signs citywide.
While La Spata's speed limit ordinance remains bottled up for now, the City Council voted 49-1 to create a working group to come up with proposals to overhaul the city's traffic enforcement system to ensure minority drivers are not disproportionately hit with tickets.
La Spata said the working group would be tasked with addressing concerns from his colleagues that lowering the speed limit citywide would lead to a deluge of speeding tickets.
Supporters of lowering the city's speed limit have said data show pedestrians hit by cars traveling 25 mph are half as likely to die as those struck by cars traveling 30 mph.
La Spata has said many other major cities in the U.S. have reduced their default speed limit to 25 mph or lower in recent years, including Boston New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C.; as well as a handful of Chicago suburbs, including Evanston, Wheaton, and Aurora.
However, a handful of aldermen objected to lowering speed limits across the city, suggesting Chicago take a more targeted approach to lowering driving speeds by neighborhood.
Some opponents also have said lowering the citywide default speed limit to 25 mph would not make sense on major thoroughfares like Western Avenue, Harlem Avenue, Irving Park Road, or Stony Island Avenue.