Salt Lake City to lower speed limit in parts of downtown

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The Salt Lake City Council unanimously approved a slower speed limit for a stretch of downtown.

The council approved 20 miles per hour for the downtown rectangle between North Temple and 400 South and 200 East to 500 West. The limit has been 30 miles per hour.

"I think 30 is fine," one motorist said. "They'll get us so slow we won't even get to where we're going," she added.

"I think everyone should slow down. I think it would be good," another said.

Councilman Soren Simonsen says pedestrians hit by cars are more likely to survive when the speed limit is 20.

But the city's transportation director, Tim Harpst, says drivers might find the slower speed intolerable. The Deseret News reports he lobbied to keep a 25-mile-per-hour speed limit.

The slower speed limit is part of the city's transportation master plan called "Downtown in Motion." The council hopes the change will increase safety for pedestrians and bicyclists.

E-mail: tcallan@ksl.com