SUBJECT: Approval and adoption of the City of Houston Regular Speed Zone Ordinance.
RECOMMENDATION: Approve and adopt a new Regular Speed Zone Ordinance.
SPECIFIC EXPLANATION: Houston City Council adopts the City’s Regular Speed Zone Ordinance on a periodic basis to establish the limits and directions for regular speed zones throughout the city. This ordinance was most recently adopted on 3/12/2014 (Ordinance #2014-213). Changes have become necessary due to completion of new roadway segments, the review of freeway service road speed limits by the Texas Department of Transportation and to correct minor errors and duplications in the current ordinance. Roadways affected are listed in the attached table and includes descriptions of all installations and/or changes made.
Table 1 lists new Regular Speed Zones which have been or will be installed, removed, or changed. The reasons for these are:
- TxDOT Recommendation: The change was made solely on the recommendation of governing body (TxDOT) which owns the section of roadway described.
- Physical changes to the roadway: caused by roadway reconstruction or other means where the roadway no longer exists as described in the former listing.
- To better define an existing zone: Where necessary, the listing of the zone limits were changed to accurately define an existing zone. This includes the removal of duplications within the current ordinance and to correct minor errors.
- Speed Change: The City Traffic Engineer has determined a change of the speed limit was necessary based on a traffic engineering investigation that recommended the change.
Table 2 is a listing of all regular speed zones and included the installations and/or changes shown in Table 1.
It is recommended that the City Council approve the regular speed zones tables dated February 13, 2017.
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Dale A. Rudick, P.E., Director
Department of Public Works and Engineering