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Milton council approves updated speed limits tied to radar permit, expands Cambridge High school zone
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Summary
The Milton City Council unanimously approved a resolution updating posted speed limits under a recently reviewed radar permit, lowering speeds on several stretches (including New Providence Road, Thompson Road and Bethany Bend) and expanding the Cambridge High School zone with a reduced school-zone limit. Staff said signage will be installed within weeks.
The Milton City Council on Monday approved a resolution to update posted speed limits across several city streets as part of a radar-permit process, and agreed to expand the Cambridge High School zone with a lower posted school speed.
Sarah Leaders, the city's community development and public works director, told the council the action is the final administrative step to reconcile a list of roads submitted to state review as part of a data-driven evaluation that used traffic counts, crash history, roadway geometry and the Federal Highway Administration's USLIMITS2 tool. "This item is the final step in updating our speed limits to reflect our recently approved radar permit," Leaders said.
Leaders said three roadways will be posted at 40 mph: New Providence Road (Birmingham Highway to Arnold Mill Road), a segment of Thompson Road (Hopewell Road to Red Road) dropping from 45 to 40 mph, and Bethany Bend (Hopewell Road to State Route 9). She also said the Cambridge High School zone will be expanded to include the Kings Ridge area; the city recommended setting the school-zone limit 10 mph below the adjacent posted speed, which in the discussed areas would make the school zone 30 mph.
Leaders described the technical approach, saying staff considers the 85th-percentile speed (the speed at or below which 85% of vehicles travel), road geometry, adjacent land use and other factors when preparing engineering traffic investigations. She told the council the ETIs and the permit review were performed to ensure safety and to align posted limits with the broader local road safety plan.
Council members pressed staff on timing and consistency for school zones. Leaders said the city has signs in inventory and expects the new signs and temporary orange placards to be installed "within the next couple weeks," while moving the school flasher on Bethany Bend will require a specialized crew and take longer. She added that staff will coordinate with the police department to set an effective date and an education period and will update GIS and mapping services.
A council member moved to approve the resolution (agenda item 26-074); the council voted unanimously to adopt it. Leaders said staff will continue monitoring and anticipate future rounds of evaluations based on citizen requests and safety data.
The resolution directs staff to submit the reconciled list to the state and to proceed with signage and operational steps; the council did not set a specific effective date beyond the implementation steps Leaders described.
