The Washington State Department of Transportation plans to lower the speed limit on part of Battle Ground’s West Main Street to 30 mph.
The department presented its plans for the road, also known as state Highway 502, to the Battle Ground City Council on Monday.
Council member Cherish DesRochers said the area around Northwest 29th Avenue has been problematic for the city — a hotbed for crashes as people turn east from the neighborhood there onto Main Street.
“We were hoping you would extend the 30 mph farther west,” DesRochers said.
The council member said she thinks lowering the speed limit around Northwest 29th Avenue would help decrease the number of crashes.
“I hope that you will reconsider that,” she said.
The current speed limit in the area goes from 40 mph from state Highway 503, or 10th Avenue, west to around Northwest 30th Avenue, which is when it transitions to 50 mph.
The transportation department plans to change the speed limit to 30 mph from 10th Avenue through most of the developed area, then switching to 40 mph just east of Southwest 27th Avenue. The speed limit would then transition to 50 mph just west of Northwest 30th Avenue.
The department also showed its goal for lowering the speed limit farther west of that area as developments and road improvements are made along the corridor.
Deputy Mayor Shane Bowman said he didn’t understand why WSDOT isn’t lowering the speed limits further.
“People are going to be upset whether we lower this or we leave it where it is,” he said.
The deputy mayor said law enforcement officials told him that speeding cars result in more deadly crashes.
“We had a death right there earlier this year,” Bowman said.
Michael Southwick, Southwest region corridor operations manager for WSDOT, said the agency’s goal is to lower speeds in the area further.
“We just need a gradual step to get there,” Southwick said.
He said road improvements and development along the corridor will encourage people to drive slower there, facilitating a speed change that would be more likely to be followed. But that’s not the immediate plan.
The city council will consider an ordinance later this month, essentially requesting the transportation department lower the speed limits on West Main Street to Northeast 92nd Avenue, a step the department needs to ultimately lower the speed limit along the corridor.
The transportation department plans to come back to the city council to discuss state Highway 503 speed limit changes, as well.
WSDOT is responsible for setting the speed limits on Highway 502 and 503. But while the city can pass an ordinance lowering the speed limits within the city, the limit needs to be approved by the Washington Secretary of Transportation.
