Montclair Pitches New Speed Limit Proposal To Essex County

MONTCLAIR, NJ — The Montclair Town Council is trying to get Essex County to set new speed limits on county roads in the name of traffic safety.

The council voted to approve Ordinance O-23-37 on first reading at their Monday meeting. The ordinance would amend Chapter 327 of the code of the Township of Montclair to establish school zone speed limits around schools on Essex County roadways.

The proposed speed limit was originally set at 25 mph in the first version of the ordinance. It was lowered to 20 mph at Monday’s meeting after some discussion.

The ordinance will have to pass a second reading and vote, which isn’t expected to take place until December.

Montclair Township doesn’t have the right to dictate what the speed limit is on county roads, according to Mayor Sean Spiller. But county administrators have indicated they would be amenable to lowering the limit around schools.

The resolution passed Monday is asking the county to do that, he said.

“We are confident they will act on that recommendation,” Spiller added.

A second resolution passed at Monday’s meeting asks Essex County administrators to lower the speed limit on all county roads to 25 mph – if they aren’t currently set at that limit.

Councilman Bob Russo, who sponsored the second resolution, said he’s seen people speeding up to 50 mph on some county roads, which aren’t really highways.

The end goal? To roll out a uniform lower speed limit of 25 mph throughout the town, he said.

Russo said that he’s further advocating for a 15-mph speed limit on all township streets near schools and day care centers.

Watch footage from Monday’s meeting below (video is cued to the discussion).

Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com. Learn more about advertising on Patch here. Find out how to post announcements or events to your local Patch site. Don’t forget to visit the Patch Montclair Facebook page.