Decatur’s commission recently approved three streets in the Decatur Heights neighborhood as 25 mph “residential district speed zones,” meaning a driver can be ticketed going one mph over that limit.
The three are portions of Lockwood Terrace, Ridgeland Avenue and Sycamore Drive. The RDSZ designation will be marked by a placard placed below the normal 25 mph sign.
Assistant City Manager David Junger hopes this new ordinance begins establishing a consistency throughout the city. During a meeting two weeks ago it was Junger who told Georgia Department of Transportation officials that, “Our speed limits make no sense.”
Decatur still has a number of 25 mph roads that aren’t part of a RDSZ, and therefore drivers can’t get ticketed until a minimum 11 mph over the limit. Also, according City Manager Peggy Merriss, speeding can’t be enforced at all by radar or laser on “about 50 percent” of the city’s streets due to topographical features like hills and curves.
Junger said the RDSZ designation, which has been around since 1999, has also been assigned to the Ponce Terrace and Great Lakes neighborhoods.
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