The New 20 and 25 MPH Speed Limits

….In St Paul and Mpls. The signs are going up now. Man, I’m getting passed by guys on scooters! This is going to take some getting used to.

-J.

Is this change so that the rioters have a better shot at running you down and smashing in your windows?

What roads?

http://www.fox9.com/news/20-is-plenty-minneapolis-and-st-paul-lower-speed-limits-on-city-owned-roads

(FOX 9) – The cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul will lower their speed limits in an effort to make their streets safer.

Thursday, the cities announced plans to lower speed limits on residential streets to 20 miles per hour, on arterial streets to 25 miles per hour and on a few other city-owned streets to 30 miles per hour.

Minneapolis and St. Paul lower speed limits on city-owned roads

The cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul will lower their speed limits in an effort to make their streets safer.

The campaign from the cities is called, “20 is plenty.”

Minnesota law dictates that the cities can only change limits on city-owned streets, so county and MnDOT roads’ speed limits will remain unchanged.

This month, staff from both St. Paul and Minneapolis are changing more than 1,000 speed limit signs.

Once the busier streets are signed, the cities will then install signs at entry points into both cities to show that the citywide limits are 20 miles per hour unless otherwise posted.

All signage will be installed by fall, the cities said.

Munchy,

Rochester might be next….

http://www.medcitybeat.com/news-blog/2020/should-rochester-set-streets-20-mph

Yup. We have an abundance of non-thinkers in this town. Our streets look like checkerboard down town where the Mayo complexes are and bike lanes where cars are supposed to be. Now slowing things down to a crawl because the idiots are out and about and haven’t the brains to stay out of the way of moving vehicles.

Tom Sawvell wrote:

Yup. We have an abundance of non-thinkers in this town. Our streets look like checkerboard down town where the Mayo complexes are and bike lanes where cars are supposed to be. Now slowing things down to a crawl because the idiots are out and about and haven’t the brains to stay out of the way of moving vehicles.

Ain’t that the truth! Them bike lanes are a pita driving around town. I can’t believe they think those are safer than the sidewalk.

As far as the lower speed limit I’m all for that in my neighborhood with kids around

I feel like this wouldn’t even be a consideration had there not be a sudden uptick in the amount of pedestrians thinking they can just jump out into traffic and vehicles are supposed to magically be able to stop on a dime for them. Seems like kids aren’t being taught to look both ways and WAIT until it’s safe to cross. Twenty miles per hour in incredibly sloooow… People can barely do 20 in a posted school zone without being tailgated.

This is actually a great law change. Your chances of surviving a hit from a vehicle are great reduceD from 30-20/25 mph. Lots of bikers in MSP. Also, this is much needed for residential areas.

Don’t worry, it’s not gonna add any time to your commute!

For quite a few years now city roads here have been getting narrower due to added bike lanes. My main beef with that is bike riders don’t pay road taxes. Cars drivers do. Along with those added lanes mean fewer and fewer on street parking spots too.

-J.

Jon Jordan wrote:

My main beef with that is bike riders don’t pay road taxes.

And, at least around here, they often don’t follow the rules of the road. They rarely stop for stop signs. Often occupy both lanes when they ride in a large group. Don’t have or use lights and turn signals.

I’m all about sharing the road, but when you’re interacting with vehicles you need to follow standard driving rules. You want to be treated like a motor vehicle? Act like one.

They should have a system of licensure like drivers do, and all fees above the cost of administration goes to making bike lanes and enforcement.

Ive always thought 30 mph was too fast in residentials with small non-lined roads like my neighborhood in Woodbury but 20 seems too slow unless there are people present. No big deal for me. Especially in the cities where I never travel.

They took away traffic enforcement in Mpls, not sure elsewhere in the city but cars do whatever they want round here. All in the name of “racism”. This law will do nothing for the extremely dangerous drivers out there. Nothing.

With that said I do like the move. 20mph down residential side streets is a no brainier for anyone with kids. Most major street arteries in the city are county roads and are not affected.

Another great idea on paper but with out the resources for enforcement it will have little to no effect.

You can barely get up to 25 on most of the residential streets around my house and my kids’ school in st. paul. There are potholes everywhere, and cars parked on both sides of the street making it too narrow to fit two cars side by side going in opposite directions. So we take turns dodging in and out of parking spots. It’s a fun dance, sometimes a game of chicken when both cars think the other is going to move over for them.

Winter is even more fun of course

Will the scooter drivers and bicycle riders get the same speeding ticket vehicle drivers do????

I rarely if never see them pulled over by police.

glenn57 wrote:

Will the scooter drivers and bicycle riders get the same speeding ticket vehicle drivers do????

Better question – Will they enforce tailgater laws? So far I can’t go a block without some A-Hole right on my tail with that “WTF are you doing driving so damn slow for look on their face…..” (And yes, you can see their face – LOL)

-J.

Not a bad idea on some of those narrow residential streets with vehicles parked on both sides.

Leave 2 minutes earlier and slow down. It might save someone’s life.

Bass Thumb wrote:

Not a bad idea on some of those narrow residential streets with vehicles parked on both sides.

Leave 2 minutes earlier and slow down. It might save someone’s life.

^This

Bass Thumb wrote:

Not a bad idea on some of those narrow residential streets with vehicles parked on both sides.

Leave 2 minutes earlier and slow down. It might save someone’s life.

Agreed

Creating jobs…

Jon Jordan wrote:

My main beef with that is bike riders don’t pay road taxes. Cars drivers do.

-J.

Lol. Seriously? Every biker I know has a car. And every driver I know has legs…can’t stand it when I see those non road tax paying dog walkers all over the street!

Listen, you‘ll find that idiots don’t follow rules on both bikes and cars. This is in MSP where a lot of people bike to work…i did it for 3 years before I had enough. I’ve been almost hit twice. Dumped my bike once. Had crap thrown at me and had cars purposely swerve at me. I’d like to think I follow the biking laws very well.

I should add, this was proposed long before MSP’s current situation with what’s going on down there.

Jon Jordan wrote:

For quite a few years now city roads here have been getting narrower due to added bike lanes. My main beef with that is bike riders don’t pay road taxes. Cars drivers do. Along with those added lanes mean fewer and fewer on street parking spots too.

-J.

People who ride bikes don’t drive ?

There are a few roads around here that have more bike/pedestrian lanes than actual driving lanes. Kinda ridiculous!

Zero percent chance this increases safety
100 percent chance it increases revenue for the cities implementing them and insurance companies collecting premiums

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety published a report saying that lowering Boston posted limits from 30 to 25 mph reduced overall traffic speed. Except that’s not what their data showed; there was virtually no change in travel speeds. Dropping the speed limits creates more technical violators, more speeding citations, and gives auto insurance companies — the IIHS’s funding source — more opportunities to raise premiums.

and more interesting reading…. https://www.motorists.org/issues/speed-limits/studies/

Are the Prius owners now going to drive 15 mph?

I’m a biker and drive. I agree that bikers should have to obey all traffic laws. You abide by the same laws as a vehicle. I also agree bikes should be registered. I’d pay $25 a year to register mine. For how much infrastructure we have in the Twin Cities for bikes we should pay to use it and maintain it. I register my boat and have a fishing license to use the waterways. Nothing different for a bike.

But, when I’m on my bike and lawfully riding on the road don’t treat me like I shouldn’t be there. If I obey the laws then the leave me be. I’m already ashamed enough to be a grown man riding around in full spandex.

And, slow down regardless. Unless you are pulling a boat why in the hell are you in such a hurry anyways?

Matt this is not directed at you in particular….

If you are on your bike seat, feet on your pedals or not, You have to obey the published traffic laws. Most bikers do not… Stop at stop sighs, stop before right turns on red, etc…

You are not considered a pedestrian unless you are off your bike and walking beside it…

It doesn’t matter where you are at, unless it is a signed bike path, if you are on a sidewalk you must be off your seat and walking your bike…

There are no exceptions for scooters…

lol I’m sitting here reading this thread and what do I see but a bicyclist riding along in the designated bike lane on our side of the street going the wrong direction. And this is the first bicyclist I’ve seen in either lane for four months.

We have an entry to parkland a couple doors down from us and a maintained bike/walking path that leads to the down town area. Bikers use it, not the street. Why have bike lanes where they are not used but once in a great while? The bikers who want to follow the street use our sidewalk to go ripping by.

My big beef with bikes is cost to the taxpayers. All of these designated street-side bike lanes cost money for paint and labor. The downtown are is all stripes and green blocks to give bikers a clear idea of where to go to stay out of vehicles right of way. Its a mess so I won’t even drive down there. If the city is going to create all this “special” traffic zoning that costs boocoo bucks to create and maintain, the least they can do is find some way to re-coup the cost from those it is designed to benefit, not the everyday non biking taxpayers who use the roads and already pay a premium in road taxes.

My other beef with the bike lanes is they run them right to the pedestrian lanes at intersections so when a bike is in there one cannot make a right on red. Stop the frigging bike lake 40 feet back so the bikes are out of the way for those needing the right turn.

For years here in Rochester we had a traffic director that lived in, get this, an eastern state and was flown here several times a year for the important meetings. At our expense of course. Massachusetts comes to mind. This dink was a biker and was instrumental in getting all this bike lane stuff shoved down our throats. Now we have a jackass council person who thinks well of himself as a biker and his district falls, where else, but right smack in the heart of all of Mayo’s downtown and hospital campus. Hopefully he gets ousted after this election and yes I voted for the other person.

Most of the serious bike commuters I know will openly say that they treat stop signs as yields and stop lights as stop signs.