Speed Limit To Be Lowered On 5 Hollywood Streets — Here's Why

HOLLYWOOD, CA — The speed limit would be lowered to 15 mph on roads near schools across the city, including in Hollywood, under a plan advanced by a City Council committee on Wednesday.

The Transportation Committee unanimously approved a plan to implement 15 mph speed limits on 343 streets surrounding 201 schools. The plan, which is expected to be approved by the City Council in the coming weeks, would direct city crews to install signs reflecting the new speed limits by July 1.

The signs would indicate the 15 mph speed limits are in effect "when children are present."

Among the roads impacted in Hollywood is Fountain Avenue, which is set to have a 15 mph speed limit between Van Ness Avenue and St. Andrews Place.

Under state law, cities can set a speed limit near a school that is lower than the speed limit in the surrounding neighborhood.

While the school zone speed limit is 25 mph, the state's regulations allow for 15 mph school zones on streets that meet specific criteria, according to the Department of Transportation. The reduced speed limit only applies while children are attending or leaving school.

The city's efforts are being guided by the Safe Routes to School Strategic Plan, which was introduced in 2012 to implement data-driven processes and improve safety around campuses. City and school officials developed a methodology to identify schools in need.

In 2016, city officials established 15 mph school zone speed limits at 11 of the top 50 LAUSD schools in critical need of such safety treatments. By August 2023, another 98 street segments adjacent to 44 schools, including any of the remaining top 50 schools, were provided with updated school zone speed limits.

Mayor Karen Bass' adopted 2023-24 budget expanded funding for more school safety measures for another 201 schools.

Several of the streets are found on the city's High Injury Network, which identifies corridors with a high concentration of collisions that result in severe injuries and deaths, as well those involving pedestrians and cyclists.

An analysis found that more than 65% of all citywide severe and fatal traffic collisions involving people walking occurred on 6% of city streets. Traffic collisions were also the leading cause of death for children ages 2 to 14.

Nearly 56% of all fatal and injury collisions occurred within one-quarter mile of a school, according to DOT.

Damian Kevitt, executive director of Streets Are For Everyone, in an email described the city's plan as a safe one that sets appropriate speeds for school zones — which are in alignment with most European countries, where roads are much safer.

He noted that kids are the "most vulnerable road users."

While the city's efforts are a good gesture, simply lowering a speed limit without also implementing traffic calming measures or increasing speed enforcement strategies often does not result in any safety improvement, he added.

In recent years, the city has installed speed humps at many but not all school zones, he said.

In early 2024, SAFE released a report on the city's traffic safety strategies, giving them an "F Grade." A recent independent audit of LA's Vision Zero, a strategy to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries by 2025, found that it failed to reduce such dangers.

City News Service contributed to this report.