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City council and WSDOT discuss phased speed reductions on state routes 502 and 503
Summary
WSDOT staff and city officials reviewed proposed speed‑limit changes on State Route 502 and 503, including a phased plan to lower speeds to 30/40 mph as roadway context and safety improvements occur; council opened a public hearing and later adopted a city resolution setting new posted limits.
The Battle Ground City Council heard a WSDOT presentation May 5 about proposed speed‑limit changes on State Route 502 and State Route 503 and held a public hearing on the proposal.
Devin Reck and Michael Southwick of the Washington State Department of Transportation described a phased approach: sign changes and speed‑limit adjustments that reflect existing conditions now, with the option to reduce speeds further as infrastructure (sidewalks, medians, splitter islands, roundabouts) is added. WSDOT staff said they set a near‑term change that moves the 30‑mph posting farther west (near 20th Ninth) and retains a 40‑mph transition zone until planned traffic‑calming improvements are made.
The nut graf: council and WSDOT balanced immediate safety desires against the engineering need to change roadway context to get driver compliance. WSDOT recommended a phased implementation — immediate sign changes where warranted followed by further reductions after concrete improvements such as medians, sidewalks or roundabouts are completed.
Members of the public urged faster action to reduce speeds at several locations: resident Reggie Hall asked the council to lower a neighborhood speed limit to 15 mph near Whispering Pines Park and to ask WSDOT to raise the 35‑mph segment farther west to 50; Jessica Cole urged extending the 30‑mph posting past 20th Ninth because of heavy local turning movements. WSDOT staff and city engineers replied that the 30‑mph posting can be adopted by council but that achieving driver compliance with lower limits commonly requires physical roadway changes; they also noted that some lower posted speeds (for example a 20‑mph school zone) require a marked crosswalk to meet state rules.
Council members asked about construction‑zone speed behavior, enforcement and timescale for capital work. WSDOT said some roundabouts (including one at 90th/Second) are expected to be built by summer, subject to developer schedules and permits; other projects such as Rasmussen roundabout are also in design or permitting stages. The Department said temporary lane reductions for construction are governed by the work‑zone configuration and should be engineered to control speeds.
Action: after public hearing, council adopted Resolution 25‑03 listing the updated city speed limits for review and implementation in coordination with WSDOT. The motion to adopt the resolution was moved and approved at the May 5 meeting; staff and WSDOT described the adoption as the city’s endorsement of the phased target speeds and asked WSDOT to continue implementing changes in coordination with the city as road context changes.
Ending: WSDOT and city staff agreed to return as needed with updated studies and to implement the phased reductions when roadway improvements are in place; the public was advised that signs alone do not ensure compliance without accompanying traffic‑calming or access changes.
