Winfield asks staff to revise ordinance and consider lower speed limits on Highway 129 as new development arrives

The Winfield City Council directed staff to revise the city's speed-limit ordinance for Highway 129 to address forthcoming commercial development and traffic changes.

The item followed council discussion that the state has approved or will consider projects to increase roadway capacity on Highway 129 and that the city has TRIP grant funding for upgrades described in the meeting as “a little over $2 million.” The mayor told the council he had discussed traffic and entrance-spacing issues with state engineers and said the city can request an ordinance change to set speed limits that match current traffic conditions.

"It's not setting the speed trap. It's safety is why we're doing it," said Mayor Eric Simmons as he urged council support for revisiting the existing ordinance and extending speed-limit controls farther along 129 than older ordinances had covered.

Council members and staff discussed technical constraints, historical ordinance language dating to the 1980s, where the speed-limit segments currently apply, and the need to address multiple sections of 129 rather than only short segments. Staff said they would amend the draft ordinance to insert Highway 129 into the relevant sections and bring a revised ordinance back for council review.

Next steps: Staff will prepare an amended draft ordinance that reflects state traffic-study inputs and proposed speed-limit changes for Highway 129 and return it to the council for consideration.