Two months after Brooklyn Park raised the speed limit on 63rd Avenue and a portion of Noble Avenue to 35 mph, the city is reversing course and changing it back to 30.

Citizen outcry fueled the decision.

Residents spoke out at last Monday's City Council meeting, begging the council to lower the speed limit on the busy two-lane roads that carry traffic past homes, schools, churches and parks.

"It makes no sense to raise the speed limit on any portion of Noble Avenue or any other two-lane residential street in Brooklyn Park," said Ken Nordberg, who has lived near 78th and Noble avenues since 1996. "Too many drivers pay no attention to these signs. Noble is now a tragic accident involving a child waiting to happen."

The state Legislature in 2019 gave cities the authority to set speed limits on roads they own. Last year, Brooklyn Park developed a speed limit policy for its roads. In the policy, the city classified its roads based on size, traffic volume, crash history, pedestrian facilities and characteristics of the road. The policy named City Engineer Jesse Struve as the authority to set the speed limits.

City staff conducted speed studies on several corridors and looked at the speed 50% of vehicles were traveling at or below. The results showed that eight roads in the city qualified for a speed limit increase, including Noble between 85th Avenue and the Brooklyn Center border and 63rd Avenue between Hwy. 169 and just east of Zane Avenue.

Tim Harlow, Star Tribune, Star Tribune

Speeds on Noble averaged 35.8 mph before the 35 mph signs went up in August. Afterward, speeds averaged 36.6 mph. On 63rd Avenue, speeds averaged between 32 and 34 mph before the change with little noticeable increase in speed and no increase in crashes after, Struve said. He recommended the streets remain at 35 mph.

But numbers don't tell the whole story, said Brooklyn Park resident Sylvia Suares, who pointed out the average between 10 and 60 is 35 mph and 25 and 45 is 35 mph.

"Looking at the average, you don't see the whole picture," she said while addressing the council. "As you increase speed on residential streets, you have more fatalities and more severe injuries. Our street is less safe than before."

Gerald Pierson who has lived along 63rd Avenue for the past 32 years said he was disappointed he didn't get to weigh in before the change.

"When we passed the speeding policy, there was talk about getting their input," said Council Member Susan Pha. "Unfortunately that didn't happen."

The policy allows residents to petition the City Council to review the city engineer's decision and present extenuating circumstances for a different speed limit. The council felt they did, and voted unanimously to revert both roads to 30 mph as soon as crews can replace the signs.

Council Member Boyd Morson said it was the right thing to do. "It does not take statistics to apply common sense," he said.

Follow news about traffic and commuting at The Drive on startribune.com. Got traffic or transportation questions, or story ideas? E-mail drive@startribune.com, tweet@stribdrive or call Tim Harlow at 612-673-7768.