Bill Text: MI HB5962 | 2013-2014 | 97th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Traffic control; speed restrictions; modified speed limits on certain roads; allow. Amends sec. 628 of 1949 PA 300 (MCL 257.628).
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-12-02 - Printed Bill Filed 11/14/2014 [HB5962 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2013-HB5962-Introduced.html
HOUSE BILL No. 5962
November 13, 2014, Introduced by Rep. Dianda and referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
A bill to amend 1949 PA 300, entitled
"Michigan vehicle code,"
by amending section 628 (MCL 257.628), as amended by 2006 PA 85.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec.
628. (1) If the state transportation department and the
department
of state police jointly determine upon the basis of an
engineering
and traffic investigation that the speed of vehicular
traffic
on a state trunk line highway is greater or less than is
reasonable
or safe under the conditions found to exist at an
intersection
or other place or upon a part of the highway, the
departments
acting jointly may determine and declare a reasonable
and
safe maximum or minimum speed limit on that state trunk line
highway
or intersection that shall be effective at the times
determined
when appropriate signs giving notice of the speed limit
are
erected at the intersection or other place or part of the
highway.
The maximum speed limit on all highways or parts of
highways
upon which a maximum speed limit is not otherwise fixed
under
this act is 55 miles per hour, which shall be known and may
be
referred to as the "general speed limit".
(2)
If the county road commission, the township board, and the
department
of state police unanimously determine upon the basis of
an
engineering and traffic investigation that the speed of
vehicular
traffic on a county highway is greater or less than is
reasonable
or safe under the conditions found to exist upon any
part
of the highway, then acting unanimously they may establish a
reasonable
and safe maximum or minimum speed limit on that county
highway
that is effective at the times determined when appropriate
signs
giving notice of the speed limit are erected on the highway.
A
township board that does not wish to continue as part of the
process
provided by this subsection shall notify in writing the
county
road commission. As used in this subsection, "county road
commission"
means the board of county road commissioners elected or
appointed
under section 6 of chapter IV of 1909 PA 283, MCL 224.6,
or,
in the case of a charter county with a population of 2,000,000
or
more with an elected county executive that does not have a board
of
county road commissioners, the county executive.
(3)
If a superintendent of a school district determines that
the
speed of vehicular traffic on a state trunk line or county
highway,
which is within 1,000 feet of a school in the school
district
of which that person is the superintendent, is greater or
less
than is reasonable or safe, the officials identified in
subsection
(1) or (2), as appropriate, shall include the
superintendent
of the school district affected in acting jointly in
determining
and declaring a reasonable and safe maximum or minimum
speed
limit on that state trunk line or county highway.
(4)
In the case of a county highway of not less than 1 mile
with
residential lots with road frontage of 300 feet or less along
either
side of the highway for the length of that part of the
highway
that is under review for a proposed change in the speed
limit,
the township board may petition the county road commission
or
in charter counties where there is no road commission, but there
is
a county board of commissioners, the township board may petition
the
county board of commissioners for a proposed change in the
speed
limit. The county road commission or in charter counties
where
there is no road commission, but there is a county board of
commissioners,
the township board may petition the county board of
commissioners
to approve the proposed change in the speed limit
without
the necessity of an engineering and traffic investigation.
(1) The state transportation department and the department of
state police shall jointly determine any modified maximum or
minimum speed limits on limited access freeways or trunk line
highways consistent with the requirements of this section. A public
record of a traffic control order establishing a modified speed
limit authorized under this subsection shall be filed at the office
of the county clerk of the county in which the limited access
freeway or trunk line highway is located, and a certified copy of a
traffic control order shall be evidence in every court of this
state of the authority for the issuance of that traffic control
order.
(2) The county road commission and the department of state
police shall jointly determine any modified speed limits on county
highways consistent with the requirements of this section. A public
record of a traffic control order establishing a modified speed
limit authorized under this subsection shall be filed at the office
of the clerk of the county in which the county highway is located,
and a certified copy of the traffic control order shall be evidence
in every court of this state of the authority for the issuance of
that traffic control order.
(3) A local road authority shall determine any modified speed
limits on local highways consistent with the requirements of this
section. A public record of a traffic control order establishing a
modified speed limit authorized under this subsection shall be
filed at the office of the city or village or administrative office
of the airport, college, or university in which the local highway
is located, and a certified copy of the traffic control order shall
be evidence in every court of this state of the authority for the
issuance of that traffic control order.
(4) A speed limit established under this act shall be the
eighty-fifth percentile speed of free-flowing traffic under ideal
conditions on the fastest portion of a highway segment, rounded to
the nearest multiple of 5 miles per hour. In no event shall a speed
limit established under this act be lower than the seventy-fifth
percentile of the speed of free-flowing traffic under ideal
conditions on the fastest portion of a highway segment. If the
rounding of the speed limit to the nearest multiple of 5 miles per
hour results in a speed limit of less than the seventy-fifth
percentile of the speed of free-flowing traffic under ideal
conditions on the fastest portion of that highway segment, the next
higher multiple of 5 miles per hour shall be designated as the
speed limit.
(5) If a highway segment includes 1 or more features with a
design speed that is lower than the eighty-fifth percentile of the
speed of free-flowing traffic under ideal conditions on the fastest
portion of that highway segment, the road authority may post
advisory signs.
(6) (5)
If upon investigation the state
transportation
department or county road commission and the department of state
police
find it in the interest of public safety, they may order the
township, board,
or city, or village officials to erect and
maintain,
take down, or regulate the speed control limit signs,
signals, or devices as directed, and in default of an order the
state transportation department or county road commission may cause
the designated signs, signals, and devices to be erected and
maintained, taken down, regulated, or controlled, in the manner
previously directed, and pay for the erecting and maintenance,
removal, regulation, or control of the sign, signal, or device out
of the highway fund designated.
(6)
A public record of all speed control signs, signals, or
devices
authorized under this section shall be filed in the office
of
the county clerk of the county in which the highway is located,
and
a certified copy shall be prima facie evidence in all courts of
the
issuance of the authorization. The public record with the
county
clerk shall not be required as prima facie evidence of
authorization
in the case of signs erected or placed temporarily
for
the control of speed or direction of traffic at points where
construction,
repairs, or maintenance of highways is in progress,
or
along a temporary alternate route established to avoid the
construction,
repair, or maintenance of a highway, if the signs are
of
uniform design approved by the state transportation department
and
the department of state police and clearly indicate a special
control,
when proved in court that the temporary traffic control
sign
was placed by the state transportation department or on the
authority
of the state transportation department and the department
of
state police or by the county road commission or on the
authority
of the county road commission, at a specified location.
(7) Signs posted under this section shall conform to the
Michigan manual on uniform traffic control devices.
(8) (7)
A person who fails to observe an
authorized violates a
speed
or traffic control sign, signal, or device limit established
under this section is responsible for a civil infraction.
(8)
Except as otherwise provided in this section, the maximum
speed
limit on all freeways shall be 70 miles per hour except that
if
the state transportation department and the department of state
police
jointly determine upon the basis of an engineering and
traffic
investigation that the speed of vehicular traffic on a
freeway
is greater or less than is reasonable or safe under the
conditions
found to exist upon a part of the freeway, the
departments
acting jointly may determine and declare a reasonable
and
safe maximum or minimum speed limit on that freeway that is not
more
than 70 miles per hour but not less than 55 miles per hour and
that
shall be effective when appropriate signs giving notice of the
speed
limit are erected. The minimum speed limit on all freeways is
55
miles per hour except if reduced speed is necessary for safe
operation
or in compliance with law or in compliance with a special
permit
issued by an appropriate authority.
(9)
The maximum rates of speed allowed under this section are
subject
to the maximum rates established under section 629b,
section
627(5) to (7) for certain vehicles and vehicle
combinations,
and section 629(4).
(10)
Except for the general speed limit described in
subsection
(1), speed limits established pursuant to this section
shall
be known as absolute speed limits.
(9) As used in this section:
(a) "County road commission" means any of the following:
(i) The board of county road commissioners elected or appointed
under section 6 of chapter IV of 1909 PA 283, MCL 224.6.
(ii) In the case of the dissolution of the county road
commission under section 6 of chapter IV of 1909 PA 283, MCL 224.6,
the county board of commissioners.
(iii) In the case of a charter county with a population of
1,500,000 or more with an elected county executive that does not
have a board of county road commissioners, the county executive.
(iv) In the case of a charter county with a population of more
than 750,000 but less than 1,000,000 with an elected county
executive that does not have a board of county road commissioners,
the department of roads.
(b) "Design speed" means that term as used and determined
under "A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets", sixth
ed., 2011, issued by the American association of state highway and
transportation officials.
(c) "Local road authority" means the governing body of a city,
village, airport, college, or university.
(d) "Traffic control order" means a document filed with the
proper authority that establishes the legal and enforceable speed
limit for the highway segment described in the document.
