20 Miles Per Hour Zones

Update 2/23/20: Tigard City Council voted unanimously to approve Ordinance 21-05 authorizing the Public Works Department, under direction of the City Engineer, to establish 20 mph zones on select streets in Tigard.

For more information, you can view the Tigard City Council presentation and discussion here:

City Council Meeting 2/23/20 (Note: this item starts just before the six minute mark)

Should the City of Tigard implement new 20 mph speed zones in select residential areas of the city?

In February, Tigard City Council will consider an ordinance that would make some streets within Tigard eligible for 20 mph speed zones. This effort is to support walkability within the City of Tigard, which is outlined in the City’s Strategic Goals and Complete Streets policy. A speed reduction from 25 mph to 20 mph has a small impact on travel time (about 3.5 seconds of drive time on an average city block), but has life changing results for pedestrians. Crash data has shown there is a significant change in pedestrian survivability in the event of a crash when drivers are traveling at 20 MPH as opposed to 25 or 30 MPH.

The Proposal

Staff will present for consideration an ordinance that if adopted would authorize the Public Works Department, under direction of the City Engineer, to establish 20 mph zones on select streets in Tigard. Eligible streets are based on criteria outlined in state statute (ORS 810.180(11)). Based on the ORS, streets must be:

• A statutory 25 MPH facility,
• Not an arterial roadway, and
• located in a residential district.

Figure 1 below shows all eligible areas within the City of Tigard.

The Process

If adopted, the city would seek to implement the 20 MPH zones over several years, initially targeting high priority locations that meet the following criteria:

• Existing 20 MPH school zones
• Safe Routes to School Walk Routes
• Trail Connections
• Areas with documented driver behavior issues and/or complex geometric or operational features

High priority streets proposed for the initial implementation are identified in Figure 2. Click to view the map of high priority streets in detail.

Your Input

Tell us: What do you think? Survey responses will be forwarded to City Council for consideration in February.