Ordinance to lower city speed limit from 30 mph to 25 mph gets committee approval

A measure to lower the speed limit on many Chicago streets to 25 mph from 30 mph got the green light Monday from a City Council committee, despite opponents' fears about an increase in road rage incidents.

The ordinance to lower speed limits on all city-owned roads was approved 8-5 by the Committee on Pedestrian and Traffic Safety, with its chairman, 1st Ward Ald. Daniel La Spata, saying the measure "sets us on the pathway to save hundreds of lives in the next decade."

Though the full Council meets Tuesday, the proposal won't be voted on at that meeting, La Spata said, to allow time for more public conversation. He told reporters after Monday's meeting that he plans to bring it for a vote before the end of the year.

The committee also passed two companion measures.

One ordinance would introduce a public enforcement pilot program that would ticket drivers based on residents' photos of scofflaws parked in bike lanes. The yearlong pilot program would give drivers a warning in the mail for a first offense, and fines after that.

Another ordinance creates a working group to assess and redesign how the city enforces speed limits.

If passed by the Council, speed limits would change beginning in 2026, though it would not apply to state-owned roads, such as DuSable Lake Shore Drive.

Mayor Brandon Johnson signaled his support for the ordinance last week, though he said he wants to see it implemented "in an equitable way."

La Spata said the city would need to pay $3 million to change its speed limit signs, though it wouldn't cost a penny if the state's Transportation Department also lowered its roads to the same speed limit.

Most committee members said they supported the ordinance.

Lowering speed limits could help the city reach its Vision Zero goal of eliminating pedestrian and cyclist fatalities on the road, supporters said. Chicago’s pandemic-fueled wave of roadway fatalities crested with more than 180 deaths in 2021. At least 115 were reported last year.

At a hearing in May, city transportation officials said lowering the speed limit could make a big difference in saving lives. Speed limits have previously been cut to 25 mph in limited corridors, but most city arteries give drivers a 30 mph ceiling.

Some Council members on Monday said they feared the ordinance would exacerbate inequality in the form of increased ticketing of minority residents.

Ald. David Moore (17th) said he wanted to know if other cities passing similar speed limit reductions saw ticketing increase.

According to the ordinance, lowering city speed limits would also drop the ticketing threshold for the city's speed cameras, which are set to capture license plates at a minimum of 6 mph over the posted limit.

"I need to be convinced that the reduction in people's speeding is the result of speed limit, not more tickets," Moore told the committee.

La Spata assured the committee the goal is changing driver behavior, not increasing revenue. La Spata said the Chicago Police Department's head of patrol told him the ordinance would not affect how police enforce speed limits.

La Spata, in a presentation, pointed to New York City and Boston as cities that saw reductions in speeding and pedestrian fatalities after passing similar measures.

Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) said the ordinance was being rushed. Although he was part of the city's Vision Zero task force and believes the city can eliminate traffic deaths, he said this ordinance is the wrong way to address it.

"We still have the majority of Chicagoans that are fully invested in our current system of using cars," he said "We need their buy-in to make these kinds of changes."

Ald. Jason Irvin (28th) pressed the committee to postpone the vote. He said he has seen many drivers become more reckless and aggressive since the COVID-19 pandemic. But he asked for more conversation to earn the support of the Council's Black Caucus.

"I'm sorry, but reducing the speed limit is not the No. 1 issue my community is looking at," he said. "I think this one-size-fits-all approach is not in the interest of all Chicagoans."

Ald. Nicholas Sposato (38th) is not on the committee but spoke against the lower speed limit. He asked committee members to consider the unintended consequences and a possible increase in road rage. He said he was recently flipped off by a driver on Irving Park Road while driving the speed limit, which he said angered the driver behind him.

"Road rage, the problem you're going to have with it, is going to be through the roof," Sposato said.