Central Coast News KION/KCBAHigher Speed Limits Coming to Monterey's Streets

MONTEREY, Calif- You may be able to go a little faster on some streets in Monterey. The city is raising some of the speed limits because of a new regulation coming down from Sacramento.

Now traffic engineers must take the speed 85% of drivers are traveling on a given section of roadway and round up or down to the closest 5 mph increment. That means an 85% driving speed of 33 mph rounds up to a 35 mph speed limit, while an 85% speed of 32 mph rounds down to 30 mph. Under the old system, traffic engineers could round speed limits down to the lowest 5 mph increment.

The City of Monterey Traffic Engineering Division conducted extensive surveys of driving speeds on city streets, as required by the new state law, to determine the new speed limits. Most of the new speed limits on city street sections go from 25 to 30 mph. But there are a few street sections where speed limits will be raised by 10-15 mph.

The Monterey City Council will hold a public hearing to consider increases in speed limits on November 15th at Few Memorial Hall on 580 Pacific Street.

To see what street might be changing their speed limit, Click here