This report documents a series of recommendations developed by the Minnesota Department of Transportation for speed limits on local roads. The report also describes the process Mn/DOT utilized to reach these recommendations. This process benefited from the participation of several local government engineers in a Task Force convened by Mn/DOT. Mn/DOT has conducted the speed limit study and prepared this report to meet the requirements of Laws of Minnesota 2008, Chapter 287, Section 119, STUDY AND REPORT ON SPEED LIMITS. The input of all of the Task Force members was valuable and informative and helped to form a consensus for the group’s recommendations. Implementation of speed limit statutes involves an overlap of two principles: * Definitions: what type of roadway the motorist is driving on, and * Speed Limits: what the appropriate speed is for that roadway. The direction from the Legislature to Mn/DOT acknowledged these two principles. Mn/DOT was specifically tasked to study and report on the following topics: * Are the definitions of urban district, rural residential district and residential roadway appropriate? * Is 30 MPH in urban districts appropriate? * Are there locations where 25 MPH is appropriate? * Is 30 MPH in rural residential districts appropriate? * Is 55 MPH in rural residential districts within a city appropriate? * Are there rural residential district locations within cities where 30 MPH is appropriate? In response to these questions, Mn/DOT has developed proposed changes to the text of the statutes (2008 Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 169, TRAFFIC REGULATIONS). The full versions of those changes appear elsewhere in this report. (Author/publisher)
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