MISSOULA — On Monday night, after a lengthy discussion, the Missoula City Council voted to reduce the speed limit by Lowell Elementary School from 25 miles an hour to 15 miles an hour.
“When things are going on at Lowell School or the park next to it and there are cars everywhere, it is tough to see. And I think that 15 miles an hour in that scenario is perfectly reasonable,” said Missoula City Council member Mike Nugent.
Much of the council members’ discussion was centered around whether the speed limit for the area should be the staff-recommended 20 miles per hour or 15 miles per hour, the latter of which ultimately succeeded.
“I appreciate the traffic studies. I really appreciate all the time and effort that went into that. But we have three children that were hit in one school year and I don't need any more traffic studies personally. We don't have that at other elementary schools in Missoula, but we have it here at Lowell. So I think for me, I will be voting for the 15 miles per hour,” said Missoula City Council member Jennifer Savage.
Another large part of the discussion was when the speed limit should be enforced. City staff recommended “when children present”, but according to City of Missoula Police Department Chief Michael Colyer, enforcing under that wording can prove to be challenging to officers.
“This is gonna be a shade of gray here. What does present mean? Does it need to be within the actual block that the moving violation is in or is it within line of sight? What is a child? Is it gonna be, it's pretty obvious when it's a little second grader, but 15, 16, 17, 18? At what point are we gonna make that call?” said Colyer.
Council ultimately voted to have the 15-mile-per-hour speed limit enforced between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m., the same as city park hours.
Also within the discussion, City of Missoula City Attorney Ryan Sudbury told the council that they may not have the direct authority to set the speed limit, as under Montana law, changing a speed limit below 25 miles per hour typically requires a staff report that recommends a certain speed. In this case, the staff recommended 20 miles per hour.
