Communities across Maine want lower speeds but currently must wait for permission from the Maine Department of Transportation. LD 1634 empowers municipalities to set slower speeds without a speed study conducted by the MaineDOT and without assuming responsibility for setting or managing the speed limits on all roads.
Speed limits may be lowered by up to 10 miles per hour to no lower than a speed limit of 20 miles per hour and to make physical changes to a road in those areas to promote better compliance with posted speed limits. The bill also requires a municipality that has changed a speed limit to review any safety deficiencies, seek public input and report to the Legislature for a period of 5 years data on before and after motor vehicle speeds, pedestrian counts and bicycle counts. A full set of talking points can be found HERE.
LD 1634 - An Act to Grant Municipalities the Authority to Set Certain Lower Motor Vehicle Speed Limits Without a Department of Transportation Speed Study is scheduled for public hearing on Tuesday, April 25, 2023 and would advance key recommendations of Policy Action 2023, a state-wide public crowdsourcing effort convened by GrowSmart Maine and Build Maine that began in spring 2022.
The goal of Policy Action 2023 is to address barriers to and create incentives for equitable, sustainable growth and development that strengthens downtowns and villages of all sizes while pulling development pressure away from productive and open natural areas. We do so acknowledging that Maine has urban, rural, and suburban settings for which any solution may/not be a fit and a variety of people who deserve to be welcomed to their communities.
Questions related to this bill? Reach out to the Policy Action 2023 Complete Streets working group point person Zoe Miller at zoe@movingmaine.org.
A public hearing for LD 1634 is scheduled for Tuesday, April 25, 2023 at 1:00 pm before the Legislature's Transportation Committee.
Begin your letter with:
Dear Senator Chipman, Representative Williams, and Honorable Members of the Joint Standing Committee on Transportation,
My name is [ ENTER NAME] and I live in [ ENTER TOWN].
Describe your reasons for supporting the legislation.