Council wants you to drive 25

City Council polished Austin’s relatively new Vision Zero Action Plan on Thursday by endorsing four new policies aimed at reducing speeds on city streets. The resolution recommends supporting efforts at the Texas Legislature to lower the default urban speed limit to 25 miles per hour, write target design speeds into city plans and manuals, re-evaluate speed limits on major corridors and establish a neighborhood “slow zone” pilot program. The latter would include the construction of street design elements aimed at encouraging drivers to slow their respective rolls. With the resolution, Austin joins Houston, Fort Worth and San Antonio in their efforts to persuade state lawmakers to grant cities permission to post 25 mph signs. Given the prevailing preference for local preemption at the Capitol, however, the road to lower speed limits could be pretty rocky.