TRAVERSE CITY – New speed limit setting requirements will change the way counties and municipalities across Michigan determine road safety.

The law signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer now allows counties to submit a request detailing safety concerns. With a proposed solution involving speed limit change. Then the studies must be done and the change must be unanimously accepted by the county highway commission. County board and Michigan State Police.

According to the Grand Traverse County Highway Commission, unrealistically low speed limits can contribute to a false sense of security, and lowering the speed limit may not always be the best option.

“Because that 85 percent is now an option, in terms of traffic flow volumes, it will fall outside of what people are traveling at the moment. So most of the time people call, they want the speed limit to be reduced. But when we look at it, if a lot of people are traveling faster, that won’t necessarily lower the speed limit. “It may actually indicate that the speed limit needs to increase depending on the density and flow of traffic,” says Grand Traverse County Highway Commission Director Dan Watkins.

This change comes after several years of effort by Michigan Townships.