The City of Orange City Council has taken a preliminary step towards reducing speed limits on 47 street segments within the city. Council members voted unanimously on the first reading of an ordinance during their September 28 meeting. No city council member spoke on the issue during this meeting.
This action follows a staff survey conducted earlier this year across 186 streets, which ultimately proposed 46 segments for a 5-mile-per-hour speed reduction and one segment for a 10-mile-per-hour reduction, with no streets slated for speed increases.
Among the segments slated for reduction are Katella Avenue, Taft Avenue, and Main Street. Notably, several streets leading to the Orange Circle roundabout, identified as an area prone to traffic incidents in the city, are included in the proposal. Extended portions of Glassell Street could see reductions from 35 to 30 miles per hour, while parts of Chapman Avenue are proposed to reduce from 40 to 35 miles per hour, and further to 35 to 30 miles per hour closer to the intersection. Esplanade Street, specifically the portion between Fairhaven and La Veta avenues, is slated for a 10-mile-per-hour reduction.
This initiative follows changes to state law enacted a couple of years ago, which granted local jurisdictions greater flexibility in setting speed limits. Previously, speed limits were largely determined by measuring the speed at or below which 85% of drivers traveled on a given road segment, according to a staff presentation at a September 22 meeting. The revised state legislation allows cities more discretion, particularly for reducing speeds in accident-prone areas and zones with significant pedestrian activity. State statutes still apply for certain speeds, such as a 25-mile-per-hour limit for school and local zones, and a 65-mile-per-hour limit on highways.
Other Orange County cities have similarly adjusted speed limits following the state law's passage. In 2024, Anaheim reduced speed limits on 169 road segments by five to 15 miles per hour, including on streets such as Brookhurst Street, Lincoln Avenue, State College Boulevard, and Katella Avenue. Irvine also implemented speed reductions earlier this year, decreasing limits by five to 10 miles per hour on 56 roadways, including Alton Parkway, Irvine Boulevard, Jamboree Road, and Portola Parkway. Irvine Mayor Larry Agran, at a January meeting this year, lauded the state law changes, noting their impact on allowing cities to “reduce speed limits and make them stick.”
The ordinance requires one more reading and a subsequent vote by the Orange City Council for final approval. If approved, the new speed limits will be implemented 30 days after the final vote, contingent on the necessary signage updates being completed.
