Transportation Committee Moves to Lower Speed Limits Throughout the City

With speeding being one of the top causes of traffic collisions in Riverside, city officials are making a move to lower some speed limits.

The city's Transportation Committee voted Wednesday evening to approve of a plan that would lower speed limits by five to ten miles per hour across more than 100 streets in the city.

Presenters at the meeting said there were over 3,000 speed-related collisions in Riverside in the past five years, with 40 fatalities in 2022 due to speeding.

"A car driving 20 miles per hour, you have a 90 percent potential survival rate versus going 40 miles per hour, your survival rate as a pedestrian goes down to 20 percent – so there's direct correlation between severity of collisions and the speeds," said Bryan Estrada, an engineer with RK Engineering, a consulting firm hired by the city for this report.

RK Engineering surveyed 319 streets across the city, using speed radar surveys, 24-hour average daily traffic patterns and five years of collision records to make recommendations about which streets' speed limits should be lowered. They also met with Riverside Police Department officials in December of last year to review proposed speed changes and plan citywide targeted enforcement if recommendations are adopted.

Of streets surveyed, 135 were recommended to have their speed limits reduced by five or ten miles per hour.

At the meeting, there were no public commenters who opposed the speed limit reduction. However, one resident, who did not give their name, spoke in support of the project – with an additional request that speed limits on a segment of Victoria Avenue that stretches from La Sierra Avenue to Tyler Street be lowered from 45 to 35 miles per hour.

"This segment has 49 new homes going into the south…[and] is surrounded by neighborhoods and is the entry to historic Victoria Avenue," the commenter stated. "Please consider including this segment…for the safety of the residents, the many folks using the multi-use trails, and with the increased housing density that is currently under construction."

Committee members opted to unanimously approve the speed limit proposal, adding an amendment to include the commenter's request to add Victoria Avenue to the plan.

"Speed is the number one reason why fatalities occur on every roadway, not just within the city limits, but the city of Riverside is being active and taking measures such as this to address that particular issue," said committee chair John Bulinski.

The proposal will now go to the city council for a vote in the coming weeks.

City traffic engineer Philip Nitollama said if the council approves the proposal, officials will issue a citywide notification of the approved speed limits once they're installed.

"We're going to work with our marketing department and then flesh out the new information through our social media platforms and the city website to notify everyone," Nitollama said. "And we'll also coordinate with our Police Department."

Nitollama added that there will be a "grace period" for drivers to adjust to the new limits.

"I think there's a grace period that they pursue when the speed limit changes out in the field," he said. "It's not like we install the sign and then the next day we start enforcing it. So there might be some warnings at first, maybe, a week or two, and then there's actual enforcement involved…but we will be informing the public about the changes."

By Micaela Ricaforte