After much to-do, panel says keep speed limits

Based on the results of a recent speed study, speed limits on Highway A and Fredonia Avenue in the Village of Fredonia should stay as they are, the Ozaukee County Public Works Committee recommended last week.

In March, the committee recommended dropping the speed limit on Fredonia Avenue at the village’s west end from 35 mph to 25 mph.

It did so after supervisors learned at their February meeting that the 35 mph speed limit on Highway A/H, which turns into Fredonia Avenue, on the west side of the village was changed to 25 mph by the Fredonia Public Works Department without the knowledge of county officials. The village moved the 25 mph sign at the top of the hill 800 feet closer to the entrance to Waubedonia Park.

Fredonia residents were concerned vehicles traveling east would “gun it” until they got up the hill, where school buses stop to pick up children from a nearby apartment complex.

The street, however, is a county highway, giving the county authority to set the speed limit, which requires passage of an ordinance.

The county’s old ordinance called for a 35 mph speed limit west of the village and  lowered the speed limit to 25 or 30 mph once inside the village limits.

Rather than changing it back, the committee agreed to accept the village’s change and passed a new ordinance to reflect that.

Under the ordinance approved last week, the speed limit is 45 mph from Cigrand Drive east to Park Road, 25 to 30 mph from Park Road east for 1/16 mile and then 25 mph through the village to Highway 57.

The County Board in April, however, directed that a speed study be done first after Sheriff Christy Knowles and other officials questioned whether the lower speed limit should extend all the way to the Milwaukee River and the entrances to Waubedonia County Park, about 2,200 feet from the top of the hill.

Some supervisors also said they were concerned that the speed limit would drop precipitously from 45 mph to 25 mph and would require additional signage to warn motorists.

The study along Highway H was completed in May and found that about 85% of motorists obey the posted speed limits. 

The “85th percentile rule” is a standard used by the state Department of Transportation that says motorists are generally capable of determining a “reasonable” driving speed and that the speed at or below which 85% of the vehicles travel has been found to best represent this perceived “reasonable” speed.

Posted speed limits should be within 5 mph of the 85th percentile, the DOT advises.

The practice promotes voluntary speed limit compliance, officials say, while unreasonably low, or “irrational,” speed limits are not effective in changing driver behavior and have several negative effects, according to a memo from county Highway Commissioner Jon Edgren to supervisors.

Negative effects of too-low speed limits include higher costs due to increased enforcement, higher potential for crashes due to larger variability in vehicle speeds, encouragement of motorists to disregard other rational posted speed limits and create a false sense of security among residents and pedestrians, Edgren said in the memo, citing DOT research.

“There’s no basis for a speed reduction based upon the 85th percentile rule within the speed study (area),” Edgren said.

But he said he would have no objection if supervisors want to extend the 25 mph zone to the Milwaukee River and the Waubedonia County Park entrances.

“But given that (Highway H) is 25 mph through the village, I don’t foresee an issue shifting the start of the 25 mph zone from the top of the hill a quarter-mile west to the bottom of the hill,” he wrote.

“However, the speed study shows good adherence to the 45 mph speed limit along Waubedonia Park with the 85th percentile speeds at 43 to 47 mph, so the recommendation would be to leave the 45 mph speed limit as posted.”

The County Board will have to approve the new ordinance for it go into effect.