Montgomery County Implements Reduced Speed Limits Around Residential Neighborhoods

The Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) is lowering the speed limits on neighborhood streets and downtown boulevards across the County to promote safer streets and enhance safety for pedestrians and cyclists. MCDOT has reduced the speed limits on 33 roads since July of last year. 

The passage of House Bill 562 authorized the County to decrease the maximum speed limit on local roadways to 20 miles per hour (mph) and, in rare instances, to 15 mph. 

Additionally, MCDOT is reducing the speed limit on sections of roadways that are jointly maintained by MCDOT and the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration (MDOT SHA). 

The majority of the neighborhood speed limit reductions have come from resident requests. “Residents have been asking for traffic calming and reduced speeds on their local neighborhood roads,” said MCDOT Director Chris Conklin. “Before implementing reduced speed limits, our engineers conduct safety, engineering, and traffic analyses to ensure the reduced speed limit will work in that location. We know that lower speeds mean reduced risk of serious injury or death in a crash. Lower speeds are even more important in areas with lots of pedestrian and bicycle travel. The reduced speed limits, alongside our pedestrian safety and traffic calming projects, promote safer driving behaviors.”  

For a list of roads with reduced speed limits, please read MCDOT’s press release.

A map of roads with reduced speed limits is available online.