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Montgomery County delegates seek continued local control over residential speed limits
Summary
Delegates presented a Montgomery County local bill to remove duplicative study requirements and allow countywide speed limit designations without per‑street study; sponsor said the county has completed a comprehensive study and will propose amendments to clarify documents referenced in law.
House Bill 963, offered Feb. 20 by delegates representing Montgomery County, would adjust state law to let Montgomery County rely on its countywide speed study and maps rather than require separate road‑by‑road studies whenever it changes speed limits.
Sponsor Delegate Moon told the committee Montgomery County has performed a comprehensive, countywide speed study and now seeks to avoid duplicative study requirements in state statute. "The county has already done a county wide study, and they have maps and guides for what the speed should be on all the types of roads in the county," he said, adding that the county resisted naming specific documents in statute because those internal documents might change.
Ben Ross of Action Committee for Transit testified in support, calling the change largely a paperwork reduction and noting traffic studies can be burdensome for residential streets. The committee discussed a history of similar delegations of authority to counties and the bill sponsor said he would return with amendments that explicitly name the county documents to address concerns raised in the Senate in prior years.
Ending: The sponsor said he plans to file sponsor amendments to clarify referenced documents; the committee did not take a vote at the hearing.
