Council and Advocates Unite Behind 25 MPH Limit to Pass Bill in Albany

In an effort to pass a bill in the state legislature this session to reduce the city's default speed limit, the City Council and street safety advocates are uniting behind the de Blasio administration's call for a 25 mph limit. In a unanimous 9-0 vote this morning, the City Council Transportation Committee passed a resolution supporting a 25 mph limit. It is expected to pass at the City Council's stated meeting this afternoon.

Advocates, led by the families of traffic violence victims, had been supporting bills in Albany to lower the limit to 20 mph. "My decision to change my stance from a 20 to 25 mph speed limit was not taken lightly," Transportation Committee Chair Ydanis Rodriguez said at this morning's hearing. "In order for meaningful action to be taken, we must unite as a city."

“The political will is not there as it would be if we were arguing with a unified voice," Rodriguez spokesperson Russell Murphy said before the vote. The focus, he said, is on ensuring that a bill “gets passed this session instead of getting put off any further." Murphy said that the 20 mph bills from Assembly Member Daniel O'Donnell and State Senator Martin Malave Dilan would be amended to reflect the new consensus behind 25 mph.

Advocates aren't giving up on securing 20 mph speed limits for some streets. "There will be strong 20 mph options in the 25 mph bill, I understand," Transportation Alternatives Executive Director Paul Steely White said in an email. TA staff added that the bills could allow the city to lower speed limits to 20 mph without additional traffic calming measures, in much the same way current law allows 25 mph speed limits like those in the arterial slow zone program.

Streetsblog has reached out to O'Donnell and Dilan for more information about amendments to their bills and will have more on this story as it develops.