Full City Council to meet Tuesday after committee approves lower speed limit
CHICAGO (WLS) -- The full Chicago's City Council will meet Tuesday after a committee approved a measure to lower the city-wide speed limit Tuesday.
City Council could lower the citywide speed limit from 30 miles per hour to 25.
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The measure passed through committee Monday and could be up for a full vote Tuesday.
The ordinance was introduced by Alderman Daniel La Spata back in July with the backing of transit and biking advocates. He said this is all about making people safer.
It would also lower the speed limit in alleys to 15 miles per hour. It would not apply, however, to streets owned by the Illinois Department of transportation.
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DePaul University transportation expert Joe Schweiterman said traffic is up six percent since the pandemic and more people are in harm's way.
"The plan is to match New York - come down to 25 ...but accompany it with engineering improvements at intersections to really calm those streets," Schweiterman said. "People are heavy on their accelerators rite now and additional enforcement of the 25 mile per hour limit could really save a lot of lives."
Aldermen passed the measure out of committee Monday with an 8-5 vote.
