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Bellingham adopts default 20 mph citywide speed limit in phased rollout
Summary
The City Council approved an ordinance establishing updated citywide speed limits, lowering the default residential speed to 20 mph with a three‑phase implementation beginning this summer; the measure passed 6–0 with one member excused.
The Bellingham City Council voted May 18 to adopt an ordinance adding Chapter 11.05 to the municipal code that establishes updated citywide speed limits and lowers the default residential speed limit to 20 mph. Council Member Michael Liliquis moved the ordinance and Council Member Lisa Anderson seconded; the measure passed 6–0 with one member excused.
Council members and staff described the ordinance as the product of a multi‑year local road‑safety study and a national trend toward setting speed limits based on roadway context rather than matching prevailing driving speeds. The ordinance sets a three‑phase rollout: an awareness campaign starting this summer, arterial sign replacements next summer when most arterial speed limits will be posted, and a final phase in 2028 to replace and add remaining speed limit signs.
Councilor Liliquis told colleagues the plan uses a tool developed in the city’s local road‑safety work to set speed limits that account for multimodal safety. Council Member Hudspen cited crash data presented to the committee, noting that between 2019 and 2023 there were 135 crashes with fatal or severe injury outcomes, and that lowering speeds reduces pedestrian fatality risk (Hudspen cited a survival rate estimate at lower speeds presented in staff materials).
Staff said the policy alone does not produce safer streets without accompanying engineering changes to match the new speed environment; the ordinance provides a mechanism for updated limits and directs follow‑up engineering and outreach. The council also directed staff to draft language to adjust the transition point for a specific arterial (Fairhaven Parkway) and to consult with the Washington State Department of Transportation because parts of that corridor are a state highway.
The ordinance passed on the council floor after committee recommendation. Implementation will include installing about 50 gateway signs to notify drivers that 20 mph is the default unless otherwise posted, staged outreach campaigns and future street engineering to align road design with the new posted limits.
