Politics
Committee Backs Lowering Chicago’s Default Speed Limit to 25 MPH, Letting Residents Report Blocked Bus and Bike Lanes
Chicago’s default speed limit could drop to 25 miles per hour from its current baseline of 30 after a panel of alderpeople on Monday backed the measure aimed at getting drivers to slow down.
Supporters say the evidence is clear — reducing a car’s speed by just a few miles an hour significantly increases the chance of surviving a crash and reduces serious injuries. According to the Chicago Department of Transportation’s analysis of 2023 traffic crashes, 68% of fatalities involved speeding.
Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st Ward) said the plan is “grounded in physics, rather than politics” — though some of his colleagues questioned why speed limits ought to take precedence over issues like violence or homelessness, whether the move will actually make city streets safer, and if it will lead to increased enforcement or be used as a cash grab.
“We don’t want more money — we don’t want more money,” La Spata said. “We want to see people’s behaviors change and for everybody to get home safely.”
La Spata added that he had an hour-long meeting with the Chicago Police Department’s Deputy Chief of Patrol to talk through the impact of changing the speed limit.
“There’s nothing that would change about how they do enforcement based off of a statutory lowering of our speed limit,” La Spata said. “The speed limit will still be enforced through the means that we have now — a combination of automated enforcement, speed signage and the work that CPD does.”
According to an analysis presented at the meeting, pedestrians struck by a car going 25 mph are half as likely to die as those struck by a car going 30 mph. Supporters of the measure also point to a CDOT analysis that found Black and Latino Chicagoans, as well as residents 70 and over, are more likely to die as the result of a traffic crash. Cities including Seattle, Atlanta and Washington, D.C. have already lowered speed limits on all or most of their streets.
Ald. Jason Ervin (28th Ward) said driver behavior since the onset of COVID-19 has become significantly more dangerous, arguing there’s a need to “recalibrate people’s thinking” when they get behind the wheel. But he sharply criticized the idea of reducing the speed limit, posing a seemingly rhetorical question to La Spata about whether the city ought to go farther and cap drivers at 10 mph.
“When you’re dealing with homelessness, violence, lack of economic opportunity, a plethora of issues — I’m sorry, but reducing the speed limit is not the number one issue that my community is looking at,” Ervin said.
“I understand there’s a lot of different urgent matters, and I agree, but we’re talking about this committee which is … the Committee on Pedestrian and Traffic Safety,” said committee’s vice chair Ald. Ruth Cruz (30th Ward). “These are the issues that are important to this committee … this is something that is affecting my ward, especially around schools.”
The measure also drew pushback from Ald. Nicholas Sposato (38th Ward) who said he expects a spike in road rage if the change goes forward, and from Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd Ward). Hopkins said he helped craft the city’s Vision Zero plan to eliminate traffic fatalities and fully supports making streets safer — but said the needs buy-in from residents to make that happen and that “this is not the way to do it.”
The push to lower the default speed limit passed the committee on an eight to five vote, with Alds. Hopkins and Ervin being joined by Ald. Desmon Yancy (5th Ward), Ald. David Moore (17th Ward) and Ald. Derrick Curtis (18th Ward) in opposing the measure.
While the full city council meets Tuesday, La Spata said he doesn’t plan to call the speed limit ordinance for a vote because of the quick turnaround. He told reporters after the hearing that he plans to put it forward before the end of the year, and believes it can garner enough votes to pass.
“I do feel confident, because all of the feedback that has been brought to us is feedback that I believe that we can hear and address to the satisfaction of our colleagues,” La Spata said.
The measure’s garnered the support of Mayor Brandon Johnson – with the caveat that he wants to ensure equitable enforcement, which La Spata said is a principle he shares.
The speed limit would not apply to thoroughfares controlled by the state of Illinois. La Spata said the estimated cost to post new signs would run $3 million unless the Illinois Department of Transportation follows the city’s lead and lowers the limit on its streets to 25 mph as well, in which case signs differentiating the speed on city-controlled streets would be unnecessary. La Spata said he’s been in contact with state Rep. Kam Buckner (D-Chicago), who believes IDOT would likely follow CDOT’s lead.
If approved, the lower speed limit would not take effect until Jan. 1, 2026, allowing time to educate drivers on the change.
Blocked Bike and Bus Lane Complaints
The committee also backed a one-year pilot program that would allow residents to submit complaints — backed with photo evidence — of drivers illegally taking up a bus or bike lane. La Spata said it’s a consistent problem across the city, noting that 311 complaints don’t trigger immediate action and that 911 isn’t the right outlet for this kind of an issue. He said that each week, his staff has to call in a delivery truck illegally blocking a lane outside a restaurant near the 1st Ward office.
“It really stinks, when I know what’s happening in my ward, to be pulling officers away from what I would like them to be doing to be responding to this situation,” he said.
Additionally, the committee signed off on a resolution creating a working group to come up with ways Chicago can change its traffic ticketing system so Black, Latino, and low-income residents are no longer disproportionately hit with fines.
Among the ideas floated during the presentation of the resolution are to issue warnings along with educational information rather than immediately issuing a ticket, using speed camera revenue to support infrastructure changes that slow down traffic, and charge violators based on their income and ability to pay.
Contact Nick Blumberg: [email protected] | (773) 509-5434 | @ndblumberg
