Multiple streets in Merced will see new speed limits starting later this month.
The Merced City Council unanimously approved 203 speed limit amendments from a speed study at the Jan. 20 meeting.
The final vote comes after weeks of council deliberation over proposed speed increases.
Of the 233 studied speed limits, 141 street segments had speeds lowered, 62 were increased and 30 remained the same.
The council will revisit three more road segments also up for consideration. These road segments include portions of Bear Creek Drive between M and G streets, Mansionette Drive and Olive Avenue.
Speed reduction areas include business and residential districts. Congestion is driving decreased speed limits, Merced Police Capt. Dan Dabney said during a Nov. 17 meeting.
“Because we have so much more vehicles on the roadway, it just kind of automatically slows down traffic,” Dabney said. “I think that’s what we’re seeing a lot of… through the speed guns.
Councilmembers raised concerns about speed limit increases during the first public hearing on Nov. 17. Engineers at JLB Traffic Engineering, a Fresno-based firm, studied 237 street segments in Merced. Engineers collected volume and collision data, then speed data over several months. Changes for three road segments were not adopted yet, and one segment was consolidated, city spokesperson Jennifer Flachman said.
After council discussion, the contracted firm agreed to review 15 segments with proposed speed limit increases of 5 miles per hour. Engineers found reasons to not increase some of the intersections, including portions of North Bear Creek Drive.
Council members have raised concerns about stretches of Bear Creek Drive due to winding roads and high crash volume.
District 5 Councilmember Sarah Boyle expressed concern over the raised speed limits, since more than half of them were in her district – which includes portions of busy roads such as North Bear Creek Drive and M Street.
“It is absolutely scary seeing people drive the speed down M Street, and it’s been a huge concern of mine since being elected,” Boyle said at the Nov. 17 meeting. “So I would love for these areas to be looked at again.”
Both Councilmembers Fue Xiong of District 6 and Mike Harris of District 3 shared similar concerns.
There were seven fatal collisions along M Street between 2022 and 2025, according to police data. The same time period saw a total of 40 fatal traffic collisions across Merced.
January was the third time the city council discussed the speed study during a public meeting. The item first was introduced Nov. 3, when the council voted for a public hearing date on Nov. 17. The council moved to approve portions of the study on Dec. 15.
The city is required to conduct a speed study every seven years in order for police to enforce speed limits with radar guns. The previous study was conducted in 2017 — and is now expired.
Without adopting the new speed study, police cannot enforce speed limits with a radar gun, according to state law.
Police Chief Steven Stanfield urged the council members to approve the amended speed limits.
“Without a speed survey, we don’t have a posted speed that we can take into court and say what the per se speed limit is that we are enforcing,” Stanfield said during the Nov. 17 meeting.