Bill Text: NJ A5274 | 2026-2027 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Authorizes municipalities and counties to lower speed limits on certain roads without engineering and traffic investigation.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Introduced) 2026-06-15 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Transportation and Independent Authorities Committee [A5274 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2026-A5274-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman ANDREW MACURDY
District 21 (Middlesex, Morris, Somerset and Union)
SYNOPSIS
Authorizes municipalities and counties to lower speed limits on certain roads without engineering and traffic investigation.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning speed limits and supplementing Title 39 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. A municipality or county, in consultation with its staff engineer or a traffic engineering consultant, may by ordinance or resolution reduce the speed limit by five miles per hour on roads within the jurisdiction of the municipality or county, as appropriate, without conducting the engineering and traffic investigation required pursuant to R.S.39:4-98. The provisions of this subsection shall only apply if the road has a speed limit of 35 miles per hour or less and is in a school zone, as that term is defined in R.S.39:1-1, or a high-pedestrian area, as determined by the municipality or county pursuant to subsection b. of this section. However, a municipality or county may only reduce the speed limit pursuant to this subsection once for the same portion of a road and a municipality or county may not reduce a speed limit pursuant to this subsection to a speed limit below 15 miles per hour. Additionally, a municipality or county may not reduce the speed limit on a road pursuant to this subsection: if a traffic study is being completed for the road or within one year from the date that a portion of a road's speed limit was altered as a result of a traffic study.
b. A municipality or county shall, by ordinance or resolution, indicate the criteria the municipality or county uses to determine whether a road where the municipality or county seeks to lower the speed limit, pursuant to subsection a. of this section, is in a high-pedestrian area. At a minimum, the criteria shall require the municipality or county to consider the use of the surrounding land and context regarding the area in question. When determining whether a road is a high-pedestrian area, the municipality or county shall prioritize commercial downtowns, transit corridors, school zones, and areas within a quarter to half a mile of major transit facilities.
c. The Commissioner of Transportation, a municipality, or a county, as appropriate, shall erect appropriate signs giving notice of the speed limits authorized under subsection a. of this section.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill permits municipalities and counties, in consultation with their staff engineers or a traffic engineering consultant, to reduce the speed limit of roads within the jurisdiction of the municipality or county, as appropriate, that have a speed limit of 35 miles per hour or less and that are in a school zone or a high-pedestrian area without conducting an engineering and traffic investigation required under current law. However, the bill prohibits municipalities and counties from reducing the speed limit more than once on the same portion of a road and the bill prohibits municipalities or counties from lowering a speed limit to below 15 miles per hour. Additionally, the bill prohibits municipalities or counties from reducing the speed limit on a road if a traffic study is being completed for the road or within one year from the date that a portion of a road's speed limit was altered as a result of a traffic study.
Under the bill, a municipality or county, as appropriate, is required to indicate through ordinance or resolution the criteria used to determine whether a road where the municipality or county seeks to lower the speed limit is in a high-pedestrian area. At a minimum, a municipality or county, as appropriate, is required to consider the use of the surrounding land and context regarding the area in question. When determining whether a road is a high-pedestrian area, the municipality or county is required to prioritize commercial downtowns, transit corridors, school zones, and areas within a quarter to half a mile of major transit facilities.
Finally, the bill requires the Commissioner of Transportation, a municipality, or a county, as appropriate, to erect appropriate signs giving notice of the reduced speed limit.
