Drivers will have to slow down a bit in Menlo Park as the city implements new, lower speed limits on many streets. At a meeting in May, the Menlo Park City Council passed a new speed limit ordinance to improve traffic safety.
Although the ordinance was passed in May, the new speed limits have not yet gone into effect. City workers began replacing existing speed limit signs and installing new posts and signs at some locations on August 5, according to Kevin Chen, Menlo Park’s chief traffic engineer.
Since work began, new speed limits have officially been implemented on two streets: Bay Road from Marsh Road to Van Buren Road, where the speed limit has been reduced from 30 to 25 miles per hour, and Ravenswood Avenue from Laurel Street to Middlefield Road, where the speed limit has also been reduced from 30 to 25 miles per hour.
Chen says the city hopes to complete sign changes for all streets where the City Council approved a lower speed limit by early fall of this year.
In addition to the two roads already completed, speed limits will also be reduced from 30 to 25 miles per hour on Santa Cruz Avenue from the city limits near Sand Hill Road to Avy Avenue, on Middle Avenue from Olive Street to University Drive, and on Valparaiso from Cotton Street to El Camino Real.
Speed limits will be reduced from 35 to 30 mph on Alpine Road from Santa Cruz Avenue to the city limits, on Middlefield Road from the Atherton city limits to the Palo Alto city limits, and on Sand Hill Road from Sharon Park Drive to the Palo Alto city limits.
Speed limits on the section of Sand Hill Road from Highway 280 to Sharon Park Drive will be reduced from 40 to 30 miles per hour.
In the “business district” of Menlo Park, the speed limit will be reduced from 25 to 20 miles per hour. This affects Santa Cruz Avenue from University Drive to Merrill Street and Menlo Avenue from University Drive to El Camino Real.
The city will continue to inform residents about newly introduced speed limits via newsletters and social media platforms, Chen says.
A state law passed in 2021, Assembly Bill 43, gave California cities more flexibility to lower speed limits in designated “safety corridors” with higher accident rates and in “business districts” such as downtown areas by 5 miles per hour above the limit set in previous traffic studies.
According to the text of the law, drivers who violate the new speed limit can expect to receive a warning within the first 30 days after the new, reduced limits come into force.
A city press release about the new limits states that the reduced speeds in the city are being implemented as part of Menlo Park’s “Vision Zero” goal, which is to eliminate all traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2040.
“Injuries are more severe in collisions at higher speeds,” Chen said. “Lower speeds therefore play a critical role in safety. When vehicles travel at lower speeds, drivers have a wider field of vision… which allows them to see potential hazards. At lower speeds, drivers can react quickly and avoid collisions or minimize the severity of a collision.”
