Maryland HB 203 – Decreasing the lowest maximum speed limit that Montgomery County may establish


Bill Location:
MarylandAssembly / House
Bill Title:

Decreasing the lowest maximum speed limit that Montgomery County may establish for a highway outside an urban district under certain circumstances from 25 miles an hour to 15 miles an hour.

Full Bill Text ›
NMA Recommendation:
Oppose

UPDATE May 1, 2019: Legislative session for 2019 ended without action taken on bill.

UPDATE March 8, 2019: Assigned to Judicial Proceedings Committee in Senate and scheduled for a March 19 hearing.

UPDATE March 7, 2019: House voted in favor 135 – 5 and passed the bill over to the Senate.

HB 203 was introduced to the House on January 23, 2019 and referred to the Environment and Transportation Committee which has set an initial hearing date of February 14, 2019.

The bill’s language is quite convoluted but appears to allow Montgomery County to bypass the results of traffic engineering studies in order to lower suburban highway speed limits to 15 mph. The law currently provides authority to drop the speed limit to 25 mph. This is another example of the arbitrary lowering of limits without following established engineering standards.

 


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