HB 1550  - AS INTRODUCED

 

 

2024 SESSION

24-2524

12/08

 

HOUSE BILL 1550

 

AN ACT authorizing municipalities to reduce speed limits seasonally.

 

SPONSORS: Rep. Ebel, Merr. 7; Rep. McConkey, Carr. 8; Rep. Grote, Rock. 24; Rep. Rombeau, Hills. 2; Rep. Crawford, Carr. 3; Rep. Wolf, Merr. 7; Rep. Edgar, Rock. 29; Rep. Kenney, Straf. 10; Rep. Milz, Rock. 13; Sen. Ward, Dist 8; Sen. Watters, Dist 4; Sen. Prentiss, Dist 5; Sen. Pearl, Dist 17

 

COMMITTEE: Transportation

 

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ANALYSIS

 

This bill authorizes municipalities to reduce speed limits seasonally.

 

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

24-2524

12/08

 

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

 

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Four

 

AN ACT authorizing municipalities to reduce speed limits seasonally.

 

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

 

1  New Paragraph; Rules of the Road; Speed Limitations; Alteration of Limits.  Amend RSA 265:63 by inserting after paragraph V the following new paragraph:

VI.(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph I and RSA 265:60, II, or any other law to the contrary, the governing body of a municipality, or its designee, upon the basis of an engineering and traffic investigation, may act on its own, or in response to a petition of at least 10 residents of that municipality, to reduce any prima facie speed limit to provide reasonable and safe conditions upon any part of the highway system in that municipality that is seasonally congested by pedestrian or bicycle traffic.

(b)  The resident petition submitted to the governing body of the municipality, or its designee, for the municipality’s assessment of a seasonal speed limit request shall designate the area of the highway system to be affected and the reasons for the reduction in the speed limit request. The municipality, or designee, may recommend a seasonal decrease in the posted prima facie speed limit based upon an assessment in response to a resident petition, and upon the basis of an engineering and traffic investigation.

(c)  There shall be only one seasonal speed limit permitted, but in no case shall the seasonal speed limit be less than 20 miles per hour, or exceed a maximum duration of 4 months, in any 12-month period.

(d)  A municipality, or designee, approving a seasonal speed limit shall bear the cost of signage.  The design, construction, and installation of any seasonal signage shall be approved by the commissioner of the department of transportation.

2  Effective Date.  This act shall take effect upon its passage.