City Council Meeting Date: November 17, 2026
To: Mayor and Members of Council
City Administrator
From: David Bennett, Public Work Director/City Engineer
Sean M. Simonson, Engineering Manager
Title
Discuss Draft Report for the City-Wide Local Speed Limit Study.
Body
Action Requested:
None, Discussion and Council Input
Summary Report:
In August of 2019 the State legislature enacted a new law that allows City’s to set speed limits on roadways under their jurisdictional control, where previously all speed studies went through MnDOT to establish roadway speed limits.
Since the new law has been in place, there have been a handful of City’s that have implemented City Wide speed limits. There are typically two different approaches:
1. Uniform
a. One speed limit on all local streets
b. Inexpensive and quicker to implement
c. Consistent driver expectation
d. Typically, 25 mph with few exceptions (20 MPH Minneapolis/St. Paul)
2. Tiered System
a. Speed Limits established by roadway classification
i. Residential, collectors
b. Requires more signage and education
The City of Northfield held two public meetings to gather feedback on the Speed Limit Study. Throughout the study, the city also used an interactive website <https://gis.bolton-menk.com/inputid/?app=NorthfieldSpeedLimitStudy> to collect input on the study’s direction and proposed speed limits.
Based on the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) which outlines a speed limit setting procedure, which was used for this study, the recommended speed limits, current average and 85th percentile speeds, and a holistic evaluation of roadway context and use (as well as system consistency), and public feedback, the roadways in the city of Northfield are recommended to have a citywide speed limit of 25 miles per hour unless otherwise posted. 25 mph was determined based on the nineteen data collection points, public feedback, safety statistics, and alignment with national guidance as well as state statute. Beyond the 25 mph city-wide speed limit, three additional tiers of speed limits are also recommended.
Roads to be signed at 20 mph:
• Are in urban districts with direct commercial access
• Are in designated park areas
• Have a high presence of on-street parking with pedestrian traffic
• High pedestrian presence
Roads to be signed at 30 mph:
• Are in industrial or suburban transition zones (between high and low speed roadways)
• Have limited/lower driveway access points
Roads to be signed at 45 mph:
• Are in rural areas
• Have little to no roadway curvature
• Have limited development and therefore few to no access points
Existing 20 mph school speed zones would be reduced to 15 mph speed zones.
Roadways that are currently gravel will remain at their current posted speed. Upon reconstruction or paving, the road will be evaluated based on the criteria above and may be resigned. Additionally, MnDOT TH 246, County Road 23, and County Road 43 are not currently under city roadway jurisdiction. However, the city is including them as part of this study and policy for their eventual status under city jurisdiction, pending the turnback from their respective agencies. They will remain their current speed limits until the jurisdictional change and eventual reconstruction.
City Plans & Policies Relevance:
2045 Comprehensive Plan
Alternative Options:
NA
Financial Impacts:
TBD
Tentative Timelines:
Study complete end of 2026