Speed Management

Speed Limits | Speed Limit Types | Establishing Limits | Speed Management | Safety and Enforcement | Frequently Asked Questions | References and Resources | Contacts

What is Speed Management?

Speed management goes beyond establishing a speed limit on a roadway. It is a comprehensive approach which aims to control vehicle speeds through land use decisions, roadway/street design, driver education, community involvement and speed limit enforcement.

Effective speed management is critical for creating streets that support safe, comfortable, and convenient travel for everyone—whether you are in a vehicle, on a bicycle, on foot, using public transit, or using an assisted mobility device.

The U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) Safe System Approach is a holistic approach to addressing roadway safety built on six guiding principles:

  • Death and serious injuries are unacceptable 5 tenants of the Safe System Approach depicted as spokes on a wheel
  • Humans make mistakes
  • Humans are vulnerable
  • Responsibility is shared
  • Safety is proactive
  • Redundancy is Crucial

Five Safe System elements create a comprehensive, holistic approach to addressing roadway safety for all road users:

  • Safer People: Encourage safe, responsible driving and behavior by people who use our roads and create conditions that prioritize their ability to reach their destination unharmed.
  • Safer Roads: Design roadway environments to mitigate human mistakes and account for injury tolerances, to encourage safer behaviors, and to facilitate safe travel by the most vulnerable users.
  • Safer Vehicles: Expand the availability of vehicle systems and features that help to prevent crashes and minimize the impact of crashes on both occupants and non-occupants.
  • Safer Speeds: Promote safer speeds in all roadway environments through a combination of thoughtful, equitable, context-appropriate roadway design, appropriate speed-limit setting, targeted education, outreach campaigns, and enforcement.
  • Post-Crash Care: Enhance the survivability of crashes through expedient access to emergency medical care, while creating a safe working environment for vital first responders and preventing secondary crashes through robust traffic incident management practices.

The speed in which people drive influences the safety and severity of crashes. Higher speeds can increase the likelihood that a traffic crash will result in serious injury or death

due to the increase in kinetic energy generated from the interaction of vehicles and other roadway users. Safer people, or road users, are created through a combination of

education, behavioral changes, and adherence to safety protocols aimed at reducing traffic fatalities, in which speed management is one of the key elements. Speed

management aims to provide road users an environment in which they voluntarily follow speed limits and reduce speeds, when necessary, for example, in residential areas, near schools, and at dawn/dusk. Context-appropriate speed management decisions and strategies can help control vehicle speeds which can reduce fatal and serious injury crashes on our roadways.

A successful speed management process uses roadway and street design features that visually provide cues to a driver that promote slower vehicle speeds, or manage vehicle speeds by physically altering the roadway to manage the maximum speeds in which drivers can maneuver. Designing roadways in such a manner reduces operating speeds and lessens the chance of injuries when crashes do occur. Downtown area with traffic calming road design with raised crosswalks

Speed management treatments and strategies depend heavily on land use, roadway context and type, education, traffic enforcement and traffic volumes. Selection of these treatments should take into consideration many different factors to be effective and achieve the goal of slower operating speeds. Below are several of the speed management treatments that are used on Wisconsin roadways or streets.

  • Speed feedback signs
  • Curb extensions/curb bump-outs
  • Raised intersection
  • Raised crosswalks
  • Median islands
  • Bike lanes
  • Roadway reconfiguration (road diet)
  • Layered landscaping
  • Reduced lane width
  • Roundabout Temporary curb extension using flexible delineators

In many cases, speed management treatments can be used on a temporary basis by installing pavement marking and flexible delineators to delineate the proposed treatment. This approach is not recommended as a long-term solution as these require significant additional maintenance and impact snow removal operations.

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