SENATE TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 4489

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  October 1, 2026

      The Senate Transportation Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Senate Bill No. 4489.

      As amended and reported, this bill permits a municipality to establish by ordinance a speed limit of 15 miles per hour on a street or portion of a street located in a historic district under the municipality’s jurisdiction.  Under the bill, before a municipality is authorized to establish a speed of 15 miles per hour in a historic district, the municipality is to conduct an engineering and traffic to determine whether a speed limit of 15 miles per hour is reasonable and appropriate.  In conducting the engineering and traffic investigation, the municipality is required to consider the context of the street or portion of the street and certain factors outlined in the bill.

      Under the bill, a “historic district” is defined as an area in the State listed as a historic district in the National Register of Historic Places, pursuant to federal law, and in the New Jersey Register of Historic Places, pursuant to State law.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amendments:

      (1)  clarify that a municipality is authorized to establish a 15 mile per hour speed limit on a street or portion of a street located in a historic district under the jurisdiction of the municipality;

      (2)  require the municipality to conduct an engineering and traffic investigation that determines that a speed limit of 15 miles per hour is reasonable and appropriate for the street or portion of the street located in a historic district;

      (3)  require the engineering and traffic investigation to consider the context of the street or portion of the street and other factors as outlined in the amendments;

      (4)  provide that the bill does not authorize the establishment or posting of a speed limit in a manner inconsistent with the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways or applicable federal law;

      (5)  require signs erected to display the 15 mile per hour speed limit in historic districts to comply with the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways and applicable standards adopted by the Commissioner of Transportation;

      (6)  change the bill’s synopsis; and

      (7)  make a technical change.