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S4448 • 2026

Authorizes municipalities and counties to lower speed limits on certain roads without engineering and traffic investigation.

Authorizes municipalities and counties to lower speed limits on certain roads without engineering and traffic investigation.

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Stack, Brian P.
Last action
2026-06-15
Official status
Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Transportation Committee
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

Authorizes municipalities and counties to lower speed limits on certain roads without engineering and traffic investigation.

Authorizes municipalities and counties to lower speed limits on certain roads without engineering and traffic investigation.

What This Bill Does

  • Authorizes municipalities and counties to lower speed limits on certain roads without engineering and traffic investigation.
  • Topic: Transportation Fiscal note: This bill has not been certified by OLS for a fiscal note.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2026-06-15 New Jersey Legislature

    Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Transportation Committee

Official Summary Text

Authorizes municipalities and counties to lower speed limits on certain roads without engineering and traffic investigation.
Topic:
Transportation
Fiscal note:
This bill has not been certified by OLS for a fiscal note.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
S4448

SENATE, No. 4448

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED JUNE 15, 2026

Sponsored by:

Senator� BRIAN P. STACK

District 33 (Hudson)

SYNOPSIS

���� Authorizes municipalities and counties to lower speed
limits on certain roads without engineering and traffic investigation.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act
concerning speed limits and supplementing Title 39 of
the Revised Statutes.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� a.� A municipality or
county, in consultation with its staff engineer or a traffic engineering
consultant, may by ordinance or resolution reduce the speed limit by five miles
per hour on roads within the jurisdiction of the municipality or county, as
appropriate, without conducting the engineering and traffic investigation
required pursuant to R.S.39:4-98.� The provisions of this subsection shall only
apply if the road has a speed limit of 35 miles per hour or less and is in a
school zone, as that term is defined in R.S.39:1-1, or a high-pedestrian area,
as determined by the municipality or county pursuant to subsection b. of this
section.� However, a municipality or county may only reduce the speed limit
pursuant to this subsection once for the same portion of a road and a
municipality or county may not reduce a speed limit pursuant to this subsection
to a speed limit below 15 miles per hour.� Additionally, a municipality or
county may not reduce the speed limit on a road pursuant to this subsection: if
a traffic study is being completed for the road or within one year from the
date that a portion of a road�s speed limit was altered as a result of a
traffic study.

���� b.��� A municipality or county
shall, by ordinance or resolution, indicate the criteria the municipality or
county uses to determine whether a road where the municipality or county seeks
to lower the speed limit, pursuant to subsection a. of this section, is in a
high-pedestrian area.� At a minimum, the criteria shall require the
municipality or county to consider the use of the surrounding land and context
regarding the area in question.� When determining whether a road is a
high-pedestrian area, the municipality or county shall prioritize commercial
downtowns, transit corridors, school zones, and areas within a quarter to half
a mile of major transit facilities.

���� c.���� The Commissioner of
Transportation, a municipality, or a county, as appropriate, shall erect appropriate
signs giving notice of the speed limits authorized under subsection a. of this
section.

���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill permits
municipalities and counties, in consultation with their staff engineers or a
traffic engineering consultant, to reduce the speed limit of roads within the
jurisdiction of the municipality or county, as appropriate, that have a speed
limit of 35 miles per hour or less and that are in a school zone or a
high-pedestrian area without conducting an engineering and traffic
investigation required under current law.� However, the bill prohibits
municipalities and counties from reducing the speed limit more than once on the
same portion of a road and the bill prohibits municipalities or counties from
lowering a speed limit to below 15 miles per hour.� Additionally, the bill
prohibits municipalities or counties from reducing the speed limit on a road if
a traffic study is being completed for the road or within one year from the
date that a portion of a road�s speed limit was altered as a result of a
traffic study.

���� Under the bill, a municipality
or county, as appropriate, is required to indicate through ordinance or
resolution the criteria used to determine whether a road where the municipality
or county seeks to lower the speed limit is in a high-pedestrian area.� At a
minimum, a municipality or county, as appropriate, is required to consider the
use of the surrounding land and context regarding the area in question.� When
determining whether a road is a high-pedestrian area, the municipality or
county is required to prioritize commercial downtowns, transit corridors,
school zones, and areas within a quarter to half a mile of major transit
facilities.

���� Finally, the bill requires the
Commissioner of Transportation, a municipality, or a county, as appropriate, to
erect appropriate signs giving notice of the reduced speed limit.