Missoula City Government
Council Discusses Speed Limits
By Robert Struckman, 12-01-08
Update: The Missoula City Council voted Monday night 7-5 to increase, slightly, the emphasis of council input on speed limit changes. The alteration more or less skirted the broader issue discussed below, about whether speed limits should be set by city workers or by the council members. The new wording allows the Public Works Department to change speed limits on city streets with the approval of the council. The issue arose after speed limits rose on a short section of Duncan Drive in the Rattlesnake neighborhood.
Who sets speed limits?
The Missoula City Council will hold a public hearing on how fast you can drive and other ways the city limits the way Missoulians get around by car this evening at its weekly meeting starting at 7 p.m. at the council chambers, 140 W. Pine St.
Recent changes to the speed limit on Duncan and Greenough drives in the Rattlesnake neighborhood have prompted the scrutiny. One issue is who should be setting limits, and how those should be done. Are signs enough? City engineers say no. Speed limits that contradict the engineering of the street and the needs of drivers will result in constant infractions. On the other hand, what happens when city engineers make a change that’s unpopular in the neighborhood?
Councilman Dick Haines of Ward 5 said Public Works employees should make decisions like this, as technical expertise is required. “It shouldn’t be a political decision,” he said, likening the situation to one in which a politician imposes his will on what medical treatment a patient might receive.
“It’s about restriking the balance between policy and technical guidance, if it’s appropriate,” said Ward 1 Councilman Jason Wiener, who also said he didn’t want to make speed limit questions into fodder for political debate.
[End of article]
A big part of this issue to my mind is what are the appropriate penalties for speeding? I have never been anyplace where driving 31 in a 25 zone requires a court appearance and a $70-something fine. You can drive 100 on the freeway and it's only $40. Obviously this is a revenue-generation tool for the city, which maybe is fine but let's be upfront about it!
Comment By Matthew Koehler, 12-02-08Well, let's remember, driving 31 in a 25 zone is the equivalent of driving 93 in a 75 zone, based on a strictly percentage increase. I know lots of drivers think that the "speed limit" is actually 5 mph more than what the signs say, but at the lower speed limits that 5 mph is actually a pretty significant increase. Personally, I'd like to see more 20 mph, and even 15 mph, limits on our residential streets.
Comment By Jason Wiener, 12-02-08In fact, the revenue generated (or not, considering the municipal court's penchant for waiving fines) by speeding tickets hasn't come up in the discussion of the ordinance change or any specific speed limit.
The discussion has always focused on safety, mostly for people alongside on bikes or foot traveling on streets without adequate infrastructure. Given that, we would prefer compliance with the speed limit to revenue from enforcement.
While I'm commenting, I have to say my colleague Mr. Haines' analogy is inapt. Telling the City Council that they can do nothing but concur with the results of an engineering study is like denying a patient the power to direct his own course of treatment because the experts have already weighed in on what's best. In my experience, engineers sometimes inadequately account for human factors in their calculations of what would best be built. If we're still analogizing to medicine, I'd say the play W;t, adapted to film by Mike Nichols, dramatizes the situation aptly.
Jason, thanks for the input/ info. I would still be very interested to know how much the city generates on speeding fines. And aside from the level of the fines, it seems very unusual that one would have to go to court for a minor speeding infraction. Normally you just mail in your fine. The one time I got a speeding ticket in the city I went to court, was told I could pay $80-something dollars as i recall or see the judge, I saw the judge and he reduced it to $60. Seemed like a lot of fuss and time (for me and the city), as opposed to just establishing an appropriate fine and having violators mail it in.
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