2022-09-27_PWETC_Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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5. City Roadway Speed Limits Mr. Culver made a presentation on the City Roadway Speed Limits. Chair Ficek did not think a recommendation to the City Council would be made at the meeting but he would like discussion tonight for staff to be able to gather information and answer questions for the next meeting and figure out how much public input would be needed. Mr. Freihammer explained what was done in Falcon Heights was to model what St. Paul did. Roseville is really trying to get to that point because it borders so much of St. Paul. He also indicated a survey could be done as well. He thought one of the big things would be to put some information in the newsletter for residents to get information. Mr. John Kysylyczyn, 3083 Victoria Street, indicated he has lived in Roseville for thirty-five years. He reviewed some of the streets in the City where speed limits are higher than in other areas and he noted those streets do not get a lot of traffic. He reviewed his background and explained he was at the meeting because he is generally opposed to the change in the speed limits because, from what he has seen, this has been more about politics versus science. He provided background on the 2019 bill where this was passed in the Legislature. He explained this was more a political process that brought this law forward, not one based upon science or sound public policy. He reviewed history of some of the complaints over time with local speeding. He stated the fact is that the crazies that are out there driving don't look at speed limit signs or stop signs or stop lights. There is no way to legislate for that group of people because those people will not drive the speed limit no matter what number is put on the sign. Another thing is if you talk to a Police Officer off the record, the main reason why they are not going to be writing speeding tickets for someone going 28 in a 25 is the cost of the speeding ticket. He explained the cost is so high because the County gets a cut, the court system gets a cut, the law library gets a cut and the State is still balancing a shortfall from the Pawlenty Administration on the backs of traffic citation tickets. There is still a surcharge that goes to the State. It is not teaching people a lesson, it is actually harming people, it is penalizing people far more than educating them. One concern he does have is when they create laws that you know a lot of people are going to break, what you are doing is giving a license to all law enforcement entities to stop people. A person needs probable cause to stop someone and question them. By passing laws making most people law breakers, the officials are giving law enforcement a license to really stop anyone they want to and that should be a serious concern that people have. Chair Ficek thanked Mr. Kysylyczyn for his input. Page 2 of 6