In an ideal world, everyone goes the speed limit and is a kind and courteous driver. In the real world, however, people don't go the speed limit if it's too slow, and it's pretty hard to find anyone who actually goes 35 mph on westbound Saginaw Street from Hagadorn Road to Coolidge Road.
In an ideal world, when a speed limit is unnecessarily slow, and everyone is pushing the limit, it makes sense to investigate the matter and see what can be changed to make things easier for pedestrians and drivers.
That's exactly what the Michigan State Police and the Michigan Department of Transportation recently did. They investigated whether a 25 mph speed limit for East Grand River Avenue and a 35 mph speed limit for westbound Saginaw Street were reasonable. The respective departments found that drivers usually go more than 10 mph over the speed limit in both instances.
Appropriately, they decided to increase the speed limit by 10 mph, making sections of East Grand River Avenue 35 mph and Saginaw Street 45 mph.
Citizens in East Lansing are concerned about safety, but the state police's traffic services division has said that it doesn't believe raising the speed limit will cause any more traffic accidents or speeding cars.
It is obvious that people in East Lansing are nervous about cars being allowed to go faster, but the roads in question aren't in residential areas. These new speeds also are those that motorists currently are using, and people are not being hit left and right in these areas, either.
Some have raised concerns that the increased traffic speeds will affect students at Glencairn Elementary School, located on the corner of Harrison Road and Saginaw Street.
A pedestrian bridge is located near the road, however, and is readily available for elementary school students to use.
It doesn't make any sense to keep the current speed limits if nobody is following them and if increased speeds won't endanger pedestrians and other drivers.
As long as drivers maintain responsible behaviors and follow the new speed limits, it's unlikely accidents or driving violations will increase.
