| New state law gives cities speed limit flexibility in rural residential areas |
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| Wednesday, 19 August 2009 | ||
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Staff writer Before Aug. 1, a motorist could have theoretically driven up to 55 mph on 151st Avenue, east of County State Aid Highway 7 in Andover. There are many rural residential city streets in Minnesota where this used to be the case, but a revised state statute passed this last legislative session
According to the state law, which has a file number of SF1467, a rural residential district would be in areas where the driveways to homes are at intervals averaging 300 feet or less for a distance of a quarter of a mile or more. An urban street has access intervals of less than 100 feet, also for a distance of a quarter of a mile or more. The statutory speed limit on these urban roads will remain at 30 mph. Kris Busch lives on 151st Avenue in Andover. She thought the speed limit was 30 mph, but there was no sign to confirm or deny this. 151st Avenue has a curve just east of her home, so she has to be cautious when backing out of her driveway and she is concerned for neighborhood kids. Busch said it does not hurt to remind people to watch their speed and the posted 35 mph sign could help. “I don’t know if it’ll do any good, but it couldn’t hurt,” she said. What used to be rural areas are turning into residential areas. Even though the homes are further apart compared to more urban city streets, the increase in homes has led to increased traffic and this is a public safety concern, said Rep. Peggy Scott, R-Andover. She is worried about parents going by with kids in strollers with traffic going by at 55 mph. Rep. Jerry Newton, DFL-Coon Rapids, is also concerned about the children and the well-being of all residents. He said when cities see an area develop that meets the definition of a rural residential city street, they can post the 35 mph speed limit because of the revised state law. “All this does is give communities a little more flexibility,” Newton said. The city of Andover brought this rural residential speed limit issue to the attention of the state legislators, Newton and Scott said. Scott was the chief author of the House bill and worked with five co-authors, including Newton and Rep. Jim Abeler, R-Anoka. The Senate bill’s chief author was Sen. Lisa Fobbe, DFL-Zimmerman, and she worked with three co-authors, including Sen. Mike Jungbauer, R-East Bethel. Former Rep. Kathy Tingelstad, R-Andover, who served in the Minnesota Legislature from 1996 to 2008 and is now a member of the Anoka-Hennepin School Board, said changing the state law was the best route for Andover to go. “They went after changing the law rather than putting up random signs that could not be enforced,” Tingelstad said. City Administrator Jim Dickinson said Andover began to push for this revised state law in 2003 with former Rep. Chris DeLaForest, R-Andover, being an early supporter. DeLaForest held the House District 49A seat that Scott won in the 2008 election after he chose to not run for re-election. Dickinson said the most difficult part of the process was getting a committee hearing. Dickinson said Tingelstad was able to get a hearing during the 2007 legislative session. She was the chief author of HF1909, which required the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) to conduct a study on speed limits in rural and urban residential areas. Tingelstad said getting a committee hearing for a bill takes a lot of behind the scenes work of talking to committee chairpersons and administrators. She believes her over 10 years of experience in the Minnesota Legislature and the persistent attitude she gained from her marketing background helped. “Because I had a good relationship with other legislators, it was a professional courtesy almost to grant me a hearing for the legislation I was working on,” Tingelstad said. “It was a fine line between bugging other legislators and being assertive.” Newton won the House District 49B seat formally held by Tingelstad in the 2008 election after she decided not to seek re-election. At one point, it looked like the 2009 legislative session would pass once again without the House or Senate bills becoming a law. “When this thing looked like it was going to derail and they were starting to take it off committee hearings, Jim (Dickinson) got on the phone and spent a lot of time making sure that it didn’t derail,” David Berkowitz, city engineer and public works superintendent, told the Andover City Council at its April 7 meeting. The House Transportation Finance and Policy Division committee had a hearing, but there was trouble getting a hearing in the Senate committee. Dickinson said Jungbauer was key in getting this hearing. He is the ranking minority member of the Senate Transportation Committee. The state law went into effect Aug. 1. Berkowitz noted that cities are required to post 35 mph speed limit signs. If they do not, the statutory speed limit will remain at 55 mph. Scott said she would not have supported this bill if it did not have the support of MnDOT, the cities, counties and townships. The MnDOT study also explored lowering the urban residential speed limit of 30 mph to 25 mph, but the study did not recommend this, so nothing changed in urban areas. Eric Hagen is at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it |
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