Authorizes municipalities to lower speed limits in historic districts without engineering and traffic investigation.

S4489

SENATE, No. 4489

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED JUNE 22, 2026

Sponsored by:

Senator� TROY SINGLETON

District 7 (Burlington)

SYNOPSIS

���� Authorizes municipalities to lower speed limits in
historic districts without engineering and traffic investigation.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act
concerning speed limits in historic districts and
amending R.S.39:4-98.

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

���� 1.��� R.S.39:4-98 is amended
to read as follows:�

���� 39:4-98.� Rates of speed.�
Subject to the provisions of R.S.39:4-96 and R.S.39:4-97 and except in those
instances where a lower speed is specified in this chapter, it shall be prima
facie lawful for the driver of a vehicle to drive it at a speed not exceeding
the following:

���� a.���� (1) �Twenty-five miles
per hour, when passing through a school zone during recess, when the presence
of children is clearly visible from the roadway, or while children are going to
or leaving school, during opening or closing hours;

���� (2)�� Twenty-five miles per
hour on certain portions of Route 130 in Burlington City, Burlington County, as
provided by paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection a. of section 3 of P.L.2019,
c.5 (C.39:4-98.12);

���� (3)�� Thirty-five miles per
hour on certain portions of Route 130 in Burlington City, Burlington County, as
provided by paragraphs (3) and (4) of subsection a. of section 3 of P.L.2019,
c.5 (C.39:4-98.12);

���� b.��� (1) �Twenty-five miles
per hour in any business or residential district;

���� (2)�� Thirty-five miles per
hour in any suburban business or residential district;

����
(3)�� Fifteen miles per
hour in any historic district where the municipality having jurisdiction over
the historic district has established a 15 miles per hour speed limit pursuant
to this paragraph.� A municipality may establish by ordinance a speed limit of
15 miles per hour in a historic district within the jurisdiction of the
municipality.� Notwithstanding any other law, rule, or regulation to the
contrary, a municipality shall not be required to perform an engineering and
traffic investigation to establish the 15 miles per hour speed limit in a
historic district.

����
As used in this paragraph,
�historic district� means an area in the State listed as a historic district in
the National Register of Historic Places in accordance with the provisions of
chapter 3021 of Title 54, United States Code (54 U.S.C. s.302101 et seq.) and in
the New Jersey Register of Historic Places pursuant to section 1 of P.L.1970,
c.268 (C.13:1B-15.128 et seq.); and

���� c.���� Fifty miles per hour in
all other locations, except as otherwise provided in the "Sixty-Five MPH
Speed Limit Implementation Act," pursuant to P.L.1997, c.415 (C.39:4-98.3
et al.).

���� Whenever it shall be
determined upon the basis of an engineering and traffic investigation that any
speed hereinbefore set forth is greater or less than is reasonable or safe
under the conditions found to exist at any intersection or other place or upon any
part of a highway, the Commissioner of Transportation, with reference to State
highways, may by regulation and municipal or county authorities, with reference
to highways under their jurisdiction, may by ordinance, in the case of
municipal authorities, or by ordinance or resolution, in the case of county
authorities, subject to the approval of the Commissioner of Transportation,
except as otherwise provided in R.S.39:4-8, designate a reasonable and safe
speed limit thereat which, subject to the provisions of R.S.39:4-96 and
R.S.39:4-97, shall be prima facie lawful at all times or at such times as may
be determined, when appropriate signs giving notice thereof are erected at such
intersection, or other place or part of the highway.� Appropriate signs giving
notice of the speed limits authorized under the provisions of paragraph (1) of
subsection b. and subsection c. of this section may be erected if the
commissioner or the municipal or county authorities, as the case may be, so
determine they are necessary.� Appropriate signs giving notice of the speed
limits authorized under the provisions of subsection a. and
[
paragraph
]

paragraphs

(2)
and (3)
of subsection b. of this section shall be erected by the
commissioner or the municipal or county authorities, as appropriate.

���� When designating reasonable
and safe speed limits for a street under its jurisdiction pursuant to this
subsection, as part of an engineering and traffic investigation, a municipality
or county shall consider, but not be limited to, the following criteria:�
residential density; the presence, or lack, of sidewalks; the prevalence of
entry and exit ways for business and commercial establishments; whether school
children walk adjacent to the street on their way to and from school; and the
proximity of recreational or park areas, schools, community residences, family
day care homes, child care centers, assisted living facilities, or senior
communities.� Nothing in this paragraph shall substitute for traffic count,
accident, and speed sampling data as appropriate.

���� The driver of every vehicle
shall, consistent with the requirements of this section, drive at an
appropriate reduced speed when approaching and crossing an intersection or
railway grade crossing, when approaching and going around a curve, when
approaching a hill crest, when traveling upon any narrow or winding roadway,
and when special hazard exists with respect to pedestrians or other traffic or
by reason of weather or highway conditions.

���� The Commissioner of
Transportation shall cause the erection and maintenance of signs at such points
of entrance to the State as are deemed advisable, setting forth the lawful
rates of speed, the wording of which shall be within the commissioner's discretion.

(cf:� P.L.2019, c.5, s.4)

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

STATEMENT

���� This
bill permits municipalities to establish a speed limit of 15 miles per hour in
a historic district without performing an engineering and traffic investigation.

���� Under current law, drivers are
permitted to drive a vehicle at a maximum rate of 25 miles per hour in certain
areas.� However, there is not a specific speed limit established for historic
districts in the State.

���� Under the bill, a �historic
district� is defined as an area in the State listed as a historic district in
the National Register of Historic Places, pursuant to federal law and in the
New Jersey Register of Historic Places, pursuant to State law.� �