HOUSE BILL NO. 4597

A bill to amend 1949 PA 300, entitled

"Michigan vehicle code,"

by amending section 628 (MCL 257.628), as amended by 2024 PA 33.

the people of the state of michigan enact:

Sec. 628. (1) If Except as otherwise provided in subsection (5), if the county road commission, the township board, and the department of state police unanimously determine upon on the basis of an engineering and traffic investigation that the speed of vehicular traffic on a county highway is greater or less than is reasonable or safe under the conditions found to exist upon on any part of the highway, then acting unanimously they may establish a reasonable and safe maximum or minimum speed limit on that county highway that is effective at the times determined when appropriate signs giving notice of the speed limit are erected on the highway. A township board may petition the county road commission or the department of state police for a proposed change in the speed limit. A township board that does not wish to continue as part of the process provided by this subsection shall notify in writing the county road commission. A public record of a traffic control order establishing a modified speed limit authorized under this subsection must be filed at the office of the county clerk of the county in which the limited access freeway or state trunk line county highway is located, and a certified copy of a traffic control order is evidence in every court of this state of the authority for the issuance of that traffic control order. As used in this subsection, "county road commission" means the board of county road commissioners elected or appointed under section 6 of chapter IV of 1909 PA 283, MCL 224.6, or, in the case of a charter county with a population of 1,500,000 or more with an elected county executive that does not have a board of county road commissioners, the county executive.

(2) In Except as otherwise provided in subsection (5), in the case of a county highway, a township board may petition the county road commission, or in counties where there is no road commission but there is a county board of commissioners, the township board may petition the county board of commissioners for any of the following:

(a) A proposed change in the speed limit without the necessity of a speed study consistent with the methods prescribed for establishing speed limits under section 627.

(b) A proposed change in the speed limit consistent with the provisions for establishing speed limits under this section.

(c) The posting of an advisory sign or device for the purpose of drawing the attention of vehicle operators to an unexpected condition on or near the roadway that is not readily apparent to road users.

(3) The state transportation department and the department of state police shall jointly determine any modified maximum or minimum speed limits on limited access freeways or trunk line highways consistent with the requirements of this section. A public record of a traffic control order establishing a modified speed limit authorized under this subsection must be filed at the office of the county clerk of the county in which the limited access freeway or trunk line highway is located, and a certified copy of a traffic control order is evidence in every court of this state of the authority for the issuance of issuing that traffic control order.

(4) A Except as otherwise provided in subsection (5), a local road authority shall determine any modified speed limits on local highways consistent with the requirements of this section. A public record of a traffic control order establishing a modified speed limit authorized under this subsection must be filed at the office of the city or village or administrative office of the airport, college, or university in which the local highway is located, and a certified copy of the traffic control order is evidence in every court of this state of the authority for the issuance of issuing that traffic control order.

(5) Beginning on the effective date of the amendatory act that added this subsection, except as otherwise provided in this subsection, a county, township, city, or village may determine and enforce a modified speed limit on any highway within the jurisdiction of that county, township, city, or village, subject to all of the following:

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this subdivision, a county, township, city, or village shall not determine a modified speed limit on a highway within the jurisdiction of that county, township, city, or village without the prior written approval of the chief of police or the chief law enforcement officer of that county, township, city, or village. If a township, city, or village does not have a chief of police or chief law enforcement officer, that township, city, or village shall not determine a modified speed limit on a highway within the jurisdiction of that township, city, or village without the prior written approval of the county sheriff of the county in which that township, city, or village is located, or, if the township, city, or village contracts with another township, city, or village to provide law enforcement services, the chief of police or the chief law enforcement officer of that township, city, or village that provides the law enforcement services. A copy of the written approval must be retained by the clerk of the county, township, city, or village for public inspection and verification.

(b) A modified speed limit must not be established under this subsection until after a public hearing is held with not less than 14 days' notice to the public to receive public comment on the proposed modified speed limit.

(c) A county, township, city, or village is not required to obtain a traffic or engineering study to justify the modified speed limit established under this subsection.

(d) A modified speed limit established under this subsection must be in multiples of 5 miles per hour, but is not otherwise subject to the requirements of subsection (6).

(e) In determining a modified speed limit under this subsection, consideration must be given to all of the following:

(i) Public safety, including reported traffic risks and the number of accidents, crashes, and deaths.

(ii) The character of the community around the highway, including input from residents in the community.

(iii) Traffic flow efficiency.

(iv) Roadway features.

(v) Environmental concerns.

(f) Except as otherwise provided in this subdivision, a county, township, city, or village must give written notice to the law enforcement agency of that county, township, city, or village not less than 30 days before implementing a modified speed limit under this subsection. If a township, city, or village does not have a law enforcement agency, the township, city, or village must give written notice to the county sheriff of the county in which that township, city, or village is located, or, if the township, city, or village contracts with another township, city, or village to provide law enforcement services, the chief of police or the chief law enforcement officer of that township, city, or village that provides the law enforcement services, not less than 30 days before implementing a modified speed limit under this subsection. Except as otherwise provided in this subdivision, if the chief of police or the chief law enforcement officer of that county, township, city, or village objects in writing to the modified speed limit based on safety concerns, the county, township, city, or village must address those safety concerns before implementing the modified speed limit. If a township, city, or village does not have a law enforcement agency, and the county sheriff of the county in which the township, city, or village is located, or the chief of police or chief law enforcement officer of the township, city, or village that provides law enforcement services, based on who received the written notice required under this subdivision, objects in writing to the modified speed limit based on safety concerns, the township, city, or village must address those safety concerns before implementing the modified speed limit. All written documentation made under this subdivision, including, but not limited to, any objections to the modified speed limit, must be preserved by the clerk of the county, township, city, or village.

(g) If a highway serves as a boundary connecting 2 or more counties, townships, cities, or villages, any modified speed limit under this subsection must be agreed to by each connecting county, township, city, or village.

(h) This subsection does not apply to a highway described in subsection (3).

(i) For the purposes of this subsection, jurisdiction over a highway is determined as follows:

(i) A highway is under the jurisdiction of a county if the highway is a county primary road of that county.

(ii) A highway is under the jurisdiction of a township if the highway is a county highway within the borders of that township and is a county local road.

(iii) A highway is under the jurisdiction of a city or village if the highway is part of the local road system of that city or village.

(6) (5) A Except as otherwise provided in subsection (5), a speed limit established under this section must be determined in accordance with traffic engineering practices that provide an objective analysis of the characteristics of the highway, and by the eighty-fifth percentile speed of free-flowing traffic under ideal conditions on the fastest portion of the highway segment for which the speed limit is being posted. The speed limit and must be in multiples of 5 miles per hour. and rounded to a multiple that is within 5 miles per hour of the eighty-fifth percentile speed. A speed limit established under this section may be set below the eighty-fifth percentile speed if an engineering and safety study demonstrates a situation with hazards to public safety that are not reflected by the eighty-fifth percentile speed, but must not be set below the fiftieth percentile speed.

(7) (6) If a highway segment includes 1 or more features with a design speed that is lower than the speed limit determined under subsection (5) or (6), the road authority may post advisory signs.

(8) (7) If upon investigation the state transportation department or county road commission and the department of state police find it in the interest of public safety, they may order township, city, or village officials to erect and maintain, take down, or regulate the speed limit signs, signals, or devices as directed, and in default of an order the state transportation department or county road commission may cause the designated signs, signals, and devices to be erected and maintained, taken down, regulated, or controlled, in the manner previously directed, and pay for the erecting and maintenance, removal, regulation, or control of the sign, signal, or device out of the highway fund designated.

(9) (8) Signs posted under this section must conform to the Michigan manual on uniform traffic control devices.

(10) (9) An individual who violates a speed limit established under this section is responsible for a civil infraction.

(11) The state transportation department shall do both of the following:

(a) Develop and distribute best practices for conducting traffic studies and setting evidence-based speed limits.

(b) Provide technical assistance to counties, townships, cities, and villages in setting modified speed limits under subsection (5) at the request of the county, township, city, or village.

(12) Except as otherwise provided under this subsection, the law enforcement agency of a county, township, city, or village that modifies a speed limit under subsection (5) shall monitor the implementation of the speed limits modified by that county, township, city, or village to ensure compliance with safety and engineering standards. If a township, city, or village does not have a law enforcement agency, the county sheriff's office of the county in which that township, city, or village is located, or, if the township, city, or village contracts with another township, city, or village to provide law enforcement services, the law enforcement agency of that township, city, or village that provides the law enforcement services, shall monitor the implementation of the speed limits modified by the township, city, or village to ensure compliance with safety and engineering standards.

(13) (10) As used in subsections (2) to (9), (12), "county road commission" means any of the following:

(a) The board of county road commissioners elected or appointed under section 6 of chapter IV of 1909 PA 283, MCL 224.6.

(b) In the case of the dissolution of the county road commission under section 6 of chapter IV of 1909 PA 283, MCL 224.6, the county board of commissioners.

(c) In the case of a charter county with a population of 1,500,000 or more with an elected county executive that does not have a board of county road commissioners, the county executive.

(d) In the case of a charter county with a population of more than 750,000 but less than 1,000,000 with an elected county executive that does not have a board of county road commissioners, the department of roads.

(14) (11) As used in this section:

(a) "Design speed" means that term as used and determined under "A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets", seventh ed., 2018, issued by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

(b) "Local road authority" means the governing body of a city, village, airport, college, or university.

(c) "Traffic control order" means a document filed with the proper authority that establishes the legal and enforceable speed limit for the highway segment described in the document.