Change isn’t always easy, but Lakewood said the time has come to adjust the speed limit on one of its main streets.
Lakewood officials announced Thursday that the portion of Lake Avenue that runs through the city will now have a speed limit of 30 mph, down from 35 starting on June 3.
Mayor Meghan George said the area mainly has homes, schools and parks.
“It's certainly very, very important that our community remains safe for our young kids going to school to our senior walk into groceries or what have you,” George said, pointing out the school district doesn’t provide busing to its schools, which means many students walk.
Lake Avenue isn’t a stranger to change.
"A few years ago, we did a complete repaving of the street and during that repaving we added bike lanes,” George said.
She said the creation of bike lanes was a welcome improvement but also spiraled into residents speaking up about drivers going too fast and the safety of walkers, cyclists, and those behind the wheel.
"So we spent a few years collecting analysis of speed on the street. And then we reviewed that analysis and our city engineer made a recommendation along with a report to reduce the speed down to 30 mph,” George said.
ODOT has to sign off on the speed drop.
“It's not it's a simple process to change a street,” George said.
The mayor said the work of city staff, including the police department and others, is expected to save lives.
“Even just a five mile per hour reduction we see the data and that can substantially reduce the number of fatal crashes in an area,” George said.
That topic was part of a Scripps News report last year looking at reduced speed limits on Seattle streets based on a study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
That report included an interview with Cathy Chase, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, who said a five-mile per hour reduction in speed resulted in a one-fifth reduction in injury crashes.
The 30 mph area will be on Lake Avenue from West 117th Street to where it ends on Webb Avenue. The portion of the street past that, Lake Road, already has a lower speed limit of 25 mph.
Councilmember Jenny Spencer pointed out the residential character of the street and the variety of people who use it.
Cleveland’s action aligns with the ongoing work of Vision Zero Cleveland, an initiative to communicate strategies to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries to road users in the city through various efforts, including safer street design and speed management.
George is happy with Lakewood’s action and hopes Cleveland can get a speed reduction for Lake Avenue approved.
"Hopefully their data shows the same as it did in Lakewood- that the reduction was certainly warranted and the state grants and that reduction,” George said.
