“I fully support it,” Johnson said. “It’s a matter of, how do we implement it so that it’s done in an equitable way?”
Johnson’s endorsement of the proposal comes as its set to be taken up Monday by the City Council’s Committee on Pedestrian and Traffic Safety.
The speed limit reduction ordinance was proposed by Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st), who pointed to other cities that have reduced their speed limits in recent years and seen a drop in traffic deaths.
“This is not something that is a utopian goal. It is achievable,” La Spata said. “ Evanston achieved this goal of Vision Zero two years ago . New York has seen declining traffic fatalities for a decade … We know that it works, and it will work here.”
Mayor Brandon Johnson speaks at a press conference after a City Council meeting on Oct. 9, 2024. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
At a subject hearing on the city’s default speed limit in May, numerous experts and transit advocates spoke in favor of lowering the speed limit, with Chicago Department of Transportation Commissioner Tom Carney calling the change a potential “tool in the toolbox” to make streets safer.
There were 134 fatal traffic crashes in Chicago last year — lower than in prior years but still above pre-pandemic levels, said Vignesh Krishnamurthy, a CDOT deputy commissioner. Black Chicagoans and seniors are killed in traffic crashes at significantly higher rates than other residents, Krishnamurthy said.
The city has already reduced the speed limit on some thoroughfares to 20 mph through its Complete Streets program , which also incorporates protected bike lanes, pedestrian bumpouts and other safety measures designed to slow traffic.
La Spata’s ordinance is co-sponsored by Alds. Ruth Cruz (30th), Timothy Knudsen (43rd), Bennett Lawson (44th), Matt Martin (47th) and Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth (48th).
The ordinance needs to be passed out of the traffic safety committee before going to the full City Council for a final vote. If approved by the City Council, the speed limit change would go into effect at the beginning of 2026.
Block Club’s Quinn Myers and Mack Liederman contributed.
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