OREM — After a three-hour discussion, the Orem City Council voted unanimously last week to increase speed limits on a handful of streets.
Council members also said they want to evaluate the speed-limit increase over a nine-month period to see if cars go faster than the 5- to 10-mph increases.
As part of the decision, the city also will build "chokers" — raised island medians — for school crosswalk areas. The chokers tend to slow down traffic, officials say.
At Tuesday's council meeting, Chris Tschirki, Orem's transportation planner, outlined which streets will receive increased speed limits.
Tschirki said that similar 5 mph increases have not yielded greater speeds.
"The only thing that we want to accomplish with this decision is to increase the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of this city," said Orem Mayor Jerry Washburn.
Bill Fairbanks, chairman of the city's transportation master plan committee, admitted the difficulty in creating a plan that would please both sides.
"It's an issue that's not popular. It's an issue we would rather not have to face, but it's an issue we have to face," Fairbanks said. "What we're trying to do is bring everything into compliance with what it should be."
Residents argued for the speeds to stay the same.
"I fail to see that increasing the speed limit will help the welfare and safety of Orem citizens," said James Taylor, who lives on 800 East, one of the streets that would be affected by the resolution. "We've done this before, and the speed limits were raised and people were driving faster."
"We don't want to increase the speed," said Councilman Dean Dickerson. "We just want to increase the number on the sign."
Said Councilwoman Karen McCandless: "If I felt the speeds would go up, I wouldn't vote for it."
These roads will see a change:
35 mph on 800 East between 1600 North and 800 South.
40 mph on 1600 North between Geneva Road and 1200 West.
35 mph on 1600 North between 1200 West and 800 East.
35 mph on 1200 West between 1600 North and 800 South.
35 mph on 400 North between Geneva Road and State Street.
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