Time to slow down, Maple Valley.
The city released a brief yesterday regarding speed limit reductions coming to SR 169 this month. Due to the development and urbanized activity in the southern city limits area to north of Rock Creek Elementary, the reduced speeds were recommended by the Washington State Department of Transportation, and the measure was unanimously approved by the city council.
Current speed limits from the City limits to SE 271st street are reducing from 50 to 45 miles per hour, with a further reduction to 35 miles per hour from SE 271st Street to north of Rock Creek Elementary, where speeds return to 45 miles per hour.
Maple Valley residents seem to be torn regarding the change, with some lauding the change as a positive step in keeping both drivers and pedestrians safe, while others believe changing the posted speed likely won’t make much difference to speeding drivers on SR 169. Still others believe the reductions don’t go far enough, with some suggesting the speed should be 35 along the entire span of road.
New signs are expected to be posted by WSDOT by the end of this month.
If there are questions or concerns, the city urges citizens to contact Bill Bullock, city Engineer at (425) 413-8800 or bill.bullock@maplevalleywa.gov.
Find out more from the City of Maple Valley’s Facebook page:
Speed limits on a section of Washington State Route 169 (SR 169) within the Maple Valley City limits will be reduced this month following a corridor study conducted by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT). The WSDOT analysis found that speed limit reductions from the southern City limits to just north of Rock Creek Elementary School are appropriate given the level of development and urbanized activity. The City Council voted unanimously to adopt the recommended changes on February 25, 2019.
The speed limit changes involve an intermediate step from 50 mph to 45 mph from the City limits (MP 10.30) to SE 271st Street (MP 10.94) and a further reduction to 35 mph from SE 271st Street to slightly north of Rock Creek Elementary (MP 12.26) where the posted limit returns to 45 mph.
WSDOT will complete the necessary changes to the highway signage and advisory notifications by the end of May 2019.
Questions concerning the speed limit reduction can be directed to Bill Bullock, P.E., City Engineer, at (425) 413-8800 or bill.bullock@maplevalleywa.gov.
To view a PDF of the map, visit: https://go.usa.gov/xmn7t
