LANSING, Mich.(Michigan News Source) – House Representative Bradley Slagh (R-Zeeland) sponsored a bill that amended how speed limits on Michigan roads were made into law recently.

This year marked the third time that the Representative introduced legislation, the latest bill version, HB 4012, amends how speed limits can be determined on many Michigan roads including: “a standard speed limit of 55 miles per hour for county highways; a limit of 70 miles per for limited access freeways; and a general limit of 25 miles per hour for local highways, depending on their location,” according to a Senate Fiscal Agency report.

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Previously, a modified speed limit was determined by an engineering and safety study and by the 85th percentile speed of free-flowing traffic under ideal conditions of a section of highway rounded to the nearest multiple of five miles per hour, according to a Senate Fiscal Agency report.

“Instead, under the bill, a modified speed limit would have to be determined in accordance with traffic engineering practices that provided an objective analysis of the characteristics of the highway and by the eighty-fifth percentile speed of free-flowing traffic under ideal conditions on the fastest portion of the highway segment for which the speed limit was being posted,” the report said. “The speed limit would have to be in multiples of five miles per hour and rounded to a multiple that was within five miles per hour of the eighty-fifth percentile speed.”

Now, communities will be able to set speed limits within the nearest multiple of 5 mph, allowing them to round down if desired.

“For example, if a road’s average speed were 37.6 mph, Michigan law forced the speed limit to be posted at 40 mph, but the new law introduced by Slagh now allows that speed to be posted to 35 mph if the local government so chooses,” according to the office of Rep. Slagh.

Rep. Slagh, who has introduced similar legislation two other times, shared what this means for Michiganders

“I am happy this commonsense bill is now law,” Slagh said. “This will help to correct less-than-perfect language in our current law related to how speed limits are set, provide ways to reduce costs for our local road agencies, and institute clear guidelines to help keep all roadway users safer.”

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Rep. Slagh, formerly a township supervisor, introduced the legislation as a response to the previous law which only took metrics into consideration for speed limits, according to his office.

The new law is Public Act 33 of 2024.