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Kelly Drive speed limit reduced to 25 mph in Philadelphia: officials

By Gregory Payne
Published  December 11, 2023 7:08pm EST
Crime & Public Safety
FOX 29 Philadelphia

City officials lower Kelly Drive speed limit to 25mph

From 35mph to 25mph, the city of Philadelphia has lowered the speed limit on Kelly Drive yet again and they are seeking new ways to combat the excessive speeding in the future.

PHILADELPHIA - The city is hoping their latest change to the picturesque drive on what is often called the Kelly Drive Motor Speedway, will  help slow down the flow of traffic. 

FOX 29's Gregory Payne spoke with Philadelphia residents and city officials about the new change. 

"If you drove 35 on here beforehand, you would have been a hazard for going slower than the flow of traffic," said Jacques Samaha.

Instead of the long-standing 35 mile per hour speed limit, it’s now 25. 

New speed limit sign on Kelly Drive

"You know how Philly is, like if it’s 35 then it’s 45," said Tresaun Lee.

The city says from 2018 to 2022 there were 40 speeding related crashes reported to PennDOT, 28 of the 40 occurring since 2020. Of these, 12 resulted in a fatality or a serious injury.

"I appreciate any effort to make Kelly Drive more safe. I think about it as I run all the time, cars going off the road and potentially crashing into pedestrians along the bike path. Will it make any difference? I’m a little skeptical," said Anna Kessler.

Back in 2021, three teens were killed after their vehicle crossed into the westbound lane and hit another vehicle. 

"I think people will drive just as fast, if anything we have to put a red light camera or something over here," said Lee.

Traffic safety advocates believe the similar speed camera program that has slowed down drivers on Roosevelt Boulevard could be useful on Kelly. 

The city can only implement that if the Pennsylvania legislature creates a bill to allow the expansion of the automated speed enforcement program. 

"This is a more passive way to do that, putting up lower speed limits, but speed cameras would help really reinforce that the speed limit must be followed," said Sarah Clark Stuart, Executive Director of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia. 

The reduced speed limit is a part of a pilot program that is estimated to be in place for the next nine months, as the city gathers data. 

As for the enforcement of the speed change, it will remain the same, which makes some believe the problem will remain the same as well. 

"It’s not going to change much. People are going to speed here because it’s Philly drivers," said Samaha.

City officials say they will give it some time before they start gathering data, in order to give drivers a chance to get adjusted to the change.