Drivers in Battle Ground will notice new speed limits being posted on major corridors this month, part of a phased rollout of traffic changes aimed at improving safety and adapting to evolving road use.
The updates follow a City Council vote in May approving Resolution 25-03. Among the most notable changes: stretches of SW and SE Eaton Boulevard, as well as NE and SE Grace Avenue, will have their speed limits reduced.
The full list of speed limit changes is available online at cityofbg.org/speedlimitupdate2025.
The city began installing new speed limit signs on June 30, and expects the work to be completed by July 18. Enforcement will begin once signage is in place.
“This is something we do on a regular basis,” Public Works Director Mark Herceg said regarding the speed limit alterations. “We had looked at some of these speed limits, and there was a change in a federal standard that allowed us to be able to reduce the speed limit.”
Herceg said the city used traffic data, crash history, and national engineering guidelines to guide the proposed changes approved by the City Council.
“You look at things like the 85th percentile speed, the characteristics of the road … does it have a median, curves, sight distance issues, crash history … and then the engineer determines the speed limit based on all of that,” Herceg explained.
Among the most prominent changes are:
SW / SE Eaton Boulevard: West city limits to SE Grace Avenue drop from 40 to 35 mph. SE Grace Avenue to the east city limits drops from 50 to 40 mph
NE Grace Avenue / NE 142nd Avenue: NE 10th Street to NE 249th Street, north city limits, now drops from 50 to 35 mph
SE Grace Avenue / NE 142nd Avenue: South city limits to SE Rasmussen Boulevard is now 35 mph across the full stretch.
Previously, northbound drivers on SE Grace Avenue encountered three different speed zones: 50 mph from the south city limits to roughly SE 23rd Way, 40 mph from SE 23rd Way to SE Eaton Boulevard, and 35 mph from Eaton to Rasmussen.
Herceg pointed to SE Grace Avenue corridor as a key example of why these changes are needed.
“They went from fairly rural roads to development on both sides,” he said. “They now have crosswalks from one side to the other, so it’s really the character of the road changing that justified the lower speed limits.”
Radar feedback signs, electronic signs that display driver speed, will also be installed at four locations:
NE Grace Avenue/NE 142nd Avenue and NE 239th Street
SE Grace Avenue/NE 142nd Avenue at SE 39th Street/NE 179th Street
SE Eaton Boulevard at SE 20th Avenue
SW Eaton Boulevard at SW 20th Avenue
These are planned for later in the process, providing data collection to monitor driver behavior.
Herceg confirmed the feedback signs will help shape future decisions.
“For the data piece of it, I, as an engineer, like to have data,” he said. “Seeing what happens... that data again is helpful for [future] decision making.”
Until the signs are fully posted, current speed limits remain in effect.
“These new speed limits will not take effect in those areas until the signs are posted,” Herceg said. “That resolution might state there’s a new speed limit, but it’s not something that we can expect drivers to have to follow until that’s actually physically posted.”
