photo by: City of Lawrence

A City of Lawrence maps shows the neighborhood streets, in red, that will be reduced from 30 to 25 mph in the coming weeks.

Motorists will soon need to start slowing down on neighborhood streets.

The city is set to begin installing 25 mph speed limit signs on all neighborhood streets throughout the city this month, a process that will continue through mid-February until all 1,000 signs are installed, according to a city news release.

The city has created a map that shows which streets will be decreasing from 30 to 25 mph, and it is available on the city’s website, Lawrenceks.org. Collector and arterial streets are not affected by the change, including 23rd Street, Sixth Street, 15th Street, 19th Street, Ninth Street west of Connecticut Street, Barker Avenue north of 23rd Street, Kasold Drive, and Wakarusa Drive, among others, according to the map.

The commission voted in October to approve an ordinance to reduce the speed limit on residential streets from 30 mph to 25 mph and to spend $220,000 for the design and installation of the approximately 1,000 signs, where signs typically are not posted currently, as the Journal-World previously reported. The commission made the decision following a recommendation from the Multi-Modal Transportation Commission and the results of a city survey. About 57% of the 511 people who responded to the survey said they wanted to lower the speed limit, with those respondents roughly split on whether it should be 25 or 20 mph.

The release states that neighborhood associations will be contacted before the installation of the lower speed limit signs begins in the area. Some streets have previously gone through processes to lower the speed limit to 25 or 20 mph, and those streets will maintain their lower speed limits.

City staff recommended the change as part of a larger program, the city’s Neighborhood Traffic Management Program. The program will also provide funding for a traffic education campaign and traffic enforcement in neighborhoods, using traffic data to target problem areas. The program’s funding for enforcement won’t be immediately available, and a more detailed enforcement plan will be developed in the coming months. A date for when the commission will consider the plan has not yet been set.