Montgomery County is continuing its effort to slow traffic on local roads, with the Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) announcing that speed limits have been reduced on 33 additional roads since July 2025. A video discussing the changes can be seen here.
The latest changes are primarily on residential streets and are part of the County’s Vision Zero initiative, which aims to eliminate serious and fatal traffic crashes.
Since 2021, more than 250 neighborhood streets across Montgomery County have had their speed limits reduced following the passage of House Bill 562, which authorized counties to lower speed limits on local roads to 20 mph and, in some cases, as low as 15 mph.
In addition to neighborhood streets, MCDOT is working with the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration (MDOT SHA) to reduce speed limits on five shared roadway corridors. Those updated limits, which are expected to be posted by the end of August, include:
- 25 mph on Urban Core roadways
- 30 mph on Urban Center roadways
- 35 mph on Suburban Activity Center roadways
County officials say the changes are intended to improve safety for pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers.
“Lowering speed limits is an important step toward changing the culture of our neighborhood roads,” County Executive Marc Elrich said. “Our neighborhoods should be a community space, where residents can ride a bike, walk their dog, or go for a run safely.”
According to the Maryland Highway Safety Office, a pedestrian struck by a vehicle traveling 30 mph has about a 40% chance of suffering a serious or fatal injury. At 20 mph, that risk drops to approximately 10%.
The speed limit reductions are being paired with additional traffic-calming measures, including speed bumps, curb extensions, and pedestrian-friendly medians. According to MCDOT, streets with traffic-calming features experience higher compliance with posted speed limits, and pedestrian crashes decrease by 44%.
County officials said most of the neighborhood speed limit reductions have been made in response to requests from residents. Before lowering a speed limit, MCDOT engineers conduct safety, traffic, and engineering studies to determine whether the change is appropriate for that roadway.
Recent neighborhood and downtown boulevard speed reductions can be seen below the video.
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Bethesda
Clarksburg
Colesville
Gaithersburg
North Bethesda
North Kensington
North Potomac
Potomac
Rockville
Silver Spring
South Kensington
Wheaton/Glenmont
Roadways jointly maintained by MCDOT and MDSHA that are undergoing speed limit reductions include:
Rockville
New speed limit: 35 mph
New speed limit: 35 mph
North Bethesda
New speed limit: 35 mph
New speed limit: 35 mph
Silver Spring
New speed limit: 25 mph
