The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Watch those speed limit signs
Businesses and residences among determiners for speed limits
Speed limits serve as the regulators of how fast drivers are legally allowed to traverse any given road.
But who determines the speed limits that drivers should abide by?
Crystal Neelon, public relations director for the Ohio Department of Transportation-District Three, whose service region includes Lorain County, said speed limits are state regulated
“The Ohio Revised Code (section 4511.21) governs speed limits within Ohio,” Neelon said. “That being said, much of the responsibility falls on ODOT for determining safe and reasonable speed limits on all roads in the state when not otherwise defined in the (Ohio Revised Code).”
This means all the speed limits drivers are supposed to abide by, or selectively abide by, are inspired by what the state government guidelines deem appropriate for that given road, Neelon said.
According to state law,
guidelines such as “15 mph on all alleys within the municipal corporation and 50 mph on state routes within municipal corporations outside urban districts” provide the template for what drivers have grown accustomed to seeing.
Neelon said most roads fall into the category of predefined.
“Many roads within municipalities meet predefined speed limits based on the type or character of the road,” she said. “These are typically the 35 or 25 mph roads.
“The exception to this, as stated in the (Ohio Revised Code), are state routes outside of an ‘urban’ or ‘business’ district.”
Neelon said the guidelines
are specific as far as what the limits are in each given situation.
“For the situations that aren’t specified, ODOT will then determine a safe and reasonable speed once a speed zone study is completed,” she said.
Neelon said these studies look at what surrounds the roads.
“When a speed zone study is conducted, many factors go into determining the safe and reasonable speed limit,” she said. “Chief among those is roadside development, such as residences and businesses.
“Other factors include existing vehicle speeds, traffic volumes, crashes, roadway and shoulder width, sight distance and curvature of the roadway.”
There are roads in the city of Lorain, such as West Erie Avenue, also known as U.S. Route 6, that feature multiple changes in speed limits.
The variation in speeds is because of factors that change as motorists move further east or west down the road, Neelon said.
Some roads feature separate speed limits on opposite sides. Neelon said the difference in speed limits usually are due to corporation limits.
“An example of when this could occur is when one side of a road is incorporated and the other is not,” she said. “In this ‘split corp.’ situation, the section of roadway within the corporation limit meets a different speed limit definition than the section outside the corporation limit per the (Ohio Revised Code).”
Dale Vandersommen, Lorain’s city engineer, said similar factors are looked at to determine traffic flow at the municipal level.
“We received a grant for street signals a few years ago,” Vandersommen said. “We could only replace the ones that were warranted.
“So, we looked at various
things from how many crashes occurred on the road, the amount of traffic and pedestrian volume. These factors determine the road regulations in the city and what is needed at any given road and intersection.”
Speed limits also will become more of a point of emphasis for the Lorain Police Department, according to Lorain police Officer Kyle Gelenius.
“We will be entering what we call our prom season,” Gelenius said. “We have received a couple of grants that will allow us to be out there and looking for all traffic violators. We will have officers patrolling West 21st Street, Broadway, (state) Route 57, 28th Street, (state) Route 58 and West Erie Avenue. People need to designate drivers to avoid driving intoxicated on both drugs and alcohol.”
Speed limits also will become more of a point of emphasis for the Lorain Police Department.