LAKEWOOD, Colo. — The City of Lakewood is considering reducing residential speed limits from 30 mph to 25 mph — or even 20 mph — after receiving feedback from residents.
Residents made their concerns known through the city’s public engagement website, LakewoodSpeaks.org. Many wondered why the speed limits don’t match residential limits in surrounding cities.
“The staff recommendation is to go to 25,” said Lakewood Transportation engineer Mike Whiteaker. “That matches a lot of the adjacent agencies. Denver and Golden have moved to 20. Denver has been 25 for decades.”
Eventually, city staff want those speed limits reduced to 20 mph. Lakewood is trying to implement a step-by-step plan to get residents adjusted to the new rules.
“What we're trying to do is set a reasonable expectation for people that we feel good about enforcing and getting people to change their behaviors,” said Whiteaker. “It’s got to be reasonable. People have to get used to something before they move it.”
Safety itself isn’t the number one concern for the city — only 10% of vehicular injuries occur on residential streets. The main reasons brought up by residents are to improve the quality of life and reduce the amount of noise in neighborhoods.
“There’s a lot of people that can hear the cars, and that’s what we see through our speed studies,” said Whiteaker. “You can hear the noise, you hear the racing. This will reduce some noise. It hopefully will make some people feel safer.”
Lakewood City Council will discuss the issue during its meeting on Sept. 23. Council members could choose to vote on the reduction during the meeting.
The city is still accepting public comment on the matter. Residents can submit their feedback either online at LakewoodSpeaks.org or in person at the Sept. 23 meeting.
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