Salt Lake may lower speed limit for downtown

The drive to make downtown more pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly means it's time for motorists to slow down, Salt Lake City officials say.

Downtown in Motion, the city's proposed downtown transportation master plan, recommends that the speed limit be lowered from 30 mph to 25 mph in the heart of downtown.

Tim Harpst, Salt Lake City's transportation director, defines that as the area bordered by North Temple, 200 East, 400 South and 500 West, though studies are under way to determine exactly where the reduced speed limits would apply.

If the City Council approves the transportation master plan, as expected, the speed limit likely would change within a year, Harpst said.

"Frankly, I'd say most people don't even know what the speed limit is downtown," he said. "Generally, you're not going to be going too fast in the downtown area anyway."

Harpst said people increasingly are finding ways to get around downtown other than by automobile. More people are riding TRAX, bicycles, buses or walking.

"As we start seeing a more even split of the different transportation modes downtown, the lower speed limit makes everything more compatible," Harpst said.

At least one member of the City Council thinks a 25 mph speed limit isn't slow enough.

Soren Simonsen is pushing for a reduction to 20 mph or less on downtown streets, citing studies that show pedestrians hit by cars traveling 20 mph or slower usually survive without serious injury.

"I'd even support going to 15 mph," Simonsen said. "We're trying to promote our entire downtown as being highly walkable and pedestrian-oriented. I think we ought to have speed limits that are compatible with that."

A 1999 study by the U.S. Department of Transportation found that only 5 percent of pedestrians hit by a vehicle going 20 mph resulted in a fatality. The number increased to 45 percent at 30 mph, 80 percent at 40 mph and 100 percent at 50 mph.

Simonsen estimates it would take motorists only 10 seconds to 15 seconds longer to travel through the core of downtown at 20 mph instead of 25 mph.

"The potential risk that is mitigated with the reduced speed is vastly more important than saving an extra few seconds on your travel time," he said.