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Council preliminarily adopts change to Mason Road speed zones, reconciles school-zone hours
Summary
Councilors preliminarily adopted an amendment to the city speed ordinance to make most of Mason Road a 30 mph corridor and to harmonize school-zone timing; staff cited a recent McClure speed study and a 2015 study as justification. The measure passed unanimously on preliminary second reading.
The Burlington City Council on Feb. 17 preliminarily adopted an amendment to Chapter 73 of the Burlington Municipal Code that would standardize the school-zone hours and make most of Mason Road between Roosevelt and Summer Street a 30 mph corridor, except through the S-curves.
Nick, deputy city manager, told the council the city commissioned a recent McClure speed study and has an earlier 2015 speed study that reach similar conclusions. "The conclusion of the engineering study was that we are justified in making the whole corridor, other than the S curves, 30 mile an hour," he said, adding that the 85th percentile speeds and other traffic data supported keeping certain arterial corridors at 30 mph.
Councilors said consistency along the corridor and clearer school-zone timing would reduce speed variation near the school. One councilor noted neighborhood advocates previously requested lower limits during the road's design process. Another observed that lowering a limit (35 to 30) requires less engineering justification than raising one. After discussion, the council voted to preliminarily adopt the ordinance's second reading (the vote was recorded as Kreitzer: Yes; Scott: Yes; Weiss: Yes; Phillips: Aye).
Why this matters: uniform speed zones and clear school-zone hours can reduce sudden speed changes that some members tied to safety concerns around school arrival and dismissal. The ordinance still requires final procedural steps before it becomes permanent; signage will be updated to reflect any approved changes.
What’s next: the amendment moves forward after preliminary adoption; staff pointed the council to the full speed-study packet for technical detail. The city will implement signage changes if the ordinance is finalized.
