Bill Text: NJ A930 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Provides for lower speed limits on certain residential access streets.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-09 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Transportation and Independent Authorities Committee [A930 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-A930-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
218th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2018 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman THOMAS P. GIBLIN
District 34 (Essex and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Provides for lower speed limits on certain residential access streets.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act pertaining to speed limits on residential access streets and amending R.S.39:4-98.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. R.S.39:4-98 is amended to read as follows:
39:4-98. Rates of speed. Subject to the provisions of R.S.39:4-96 and R.S.39:4-97 and except in those instances where a lower speed is specified in this chapter, it shall be prima facie lawful for the driver of a vehicle to drive it at a speed not exceeding the following:
a. Twenty-five miles per hour, when passing through a school zone during recess, when the presence of children is clearly visible from the roadway, or while children are going to or leaving school, during opening or closing hours;
b. (1) Twenty-five miles per hour in any business or residential district;
(2) Thirty-five miles per hour in any suburban business or residential district;
c. Fifty miles per hour in all other locations, except as otherwise provided in the "Sixty-Five MPH Speed Limit Implementation Act," pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1997, c.415 (C.39:4-98.3 et al.).
Whenever it shall be
determined upon the basis of an engineering and traffic investigation that any
speed hereinbefore set forth is greater or less than is reasonable or safe
under the conditions found to exist at any intersection or other place or upon
any part of a highway, the Commissioner of Transportation, with reference to
State highways, may by regulation and municipal or county authorities, with
reference to highways under their jurisdiction, may by ordinance, in the case
of municipal authorities, or by ordinance or resolution, in the case of county
authorities, subject to the approval of the Commissioner of Transportation,
except as otherwise provided in R.S.39:4-8, designate a reasonable and safe
speed limit thereat which, subject to the provisions of R.S.39:4-96 and
R.S.39:4-97, shall be prima facie lawful at all times or at such times as may
be determined, when appropriate signs giving notice thereof are erected at such
intersection, or other place or part of the highway. Appropriate signs giving
notice of the speed limits authorized under the provisions of paragraph (1) of
subsection b. and subsection c. of this section may be erected if the
commissioner or the municipal or county authorities, as the case may be, so
determine they are necessary. Appropriate signs giving notice of the speed
limits authorized under the provisions of subsection a.
and paragraph (2) of subsection b. of this section shall be erected by the
commissioner or the municipal or county authorities, as appropriate.
Upon request from a community association or a majority of the residents in a neighborhood, with the approval of the appropriate governing body, the Commissioner of Transportation shall designate a speed limit of no more than 15 or 20 miles per hour on all residential access streets, as defined in N.J.A.C.5:21-4.1, within that community or neighborhood, provided the majority of the streets within that community or neighborhood do not have sidewalks and the commissioner or the community association erect appropriate signs giving notice thereof.
When designating reasonable and safe speed limits for a street under its jurisdiction pursuant to this subsection, as part of an engineering and traffic investigation, a municipality or county shall consider, but not be limited to, the following criteria: residential density; the presence, or lack, of sidewalks; the prevalence of entry and exit ways for business and commercial establishments; whether school children walk adjacent to the street on their way to and from school; and the proximity of recreational or park areas, schools, community residences, family day care homes, child care centers, assisted living facilities or senior communities. Nothing in this paragraph shall substitute for traffic count, accident, and speed sampling data as appropriate.
The driver of every vehicle shall, consistent with the requirements of this section, drive at an appropriate reduced speed when approaching and crossing an intersection or railway grade crossing, when approaching and going around a curve, when approaching a hill crest, when traveling upon any narrow or winding roadway, and when special hazard exists with respect to pedestrians or other traffic or by reason of weather or highway conditions.
The Commissioner of Transportation shall cause the erection and maintenance of signs at such points of entrance to the State as are deemed advisable, setting forth the lawful rates of speed, the wording of which shall be within his discretion.
(cf: P.L.2009, c.258, s.1)
2. This act shall take effect on the first day of the seventh month following enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill would require the Commissioner of Transportation to designate a speed limit of not more than 15 or 20 miles per hour on all residential access streets within a community or neighborhood, upon the request of a community association or a majority of the residents in a neighborhood, with the approval of the appropriate governing body. The bill is limited to communities or neighborhoods in which a majority of the streets do not have sidewalks. The bill also requires the commission or community association to erect signs giving notice of the reduced speed limit.
The bill specifies that "residential access street" would have the meaning used in the New Jersey Administrative Code. Under the code, residential access streets are the lowest order of residential streets, not including rural streets. These streets provide access to properties without acting as through streets. They are designed to carry the least amount of traffic at the lowest speed, and are generally found in residential developments.
