Casper Restores 30 MPH Zone on East Second Street

Ah, to be 30 again.

Not so much to be the age, but to drive that fast again on East Second Street between the Wyoming Medical Center and downtown.

Casper City Council at its meeting Tuesday approved on third reading the ordinance to reverse its decision earlier this year to lower the speed limit to 20 mph along that part of the road.

Wednesday, city crews put up signs with the new speed limits.

The apparently well-intended but ill-fated speed zone change began in March.

The default speed limit in Casper is 30 mph except for 20 mph zones near schools, near the hospital, several neighborhoods, and downtown.

Thirty miles per hour was the limit on East Second Street east of the Wyoming Medical Center to Conwell Street, then it dropped from there to 20 mph to South McKinley Street, and rose again to 30 mph to Park Street before dropping again to 20 mph when entering downtown.

So several council members recommended lowering the speed limit to a consistent 20 mph in part to reduce accidents.

Council member Mike Huber said the consistency also would enable drivers avoid being caught in a speed trap if they didn't know where the speed limit changed.

The council's decision was met with howls of protest on social media sites, and unhappy motorists voiced their displeasure to council members.

It didn't perform as intended, either, Public Services Director Andrew Beamer wrote in a memo earlier this year.

"This data suggests that the speed reduction in front of the Hospital has been marginally effective, with traffic tending to speed up between downtown and the Hospital. Based on the marginal effectiveness of the reduced speed limit, and an early indication that traffic accidents don't appear to be reduced, Council gave approval at the October 8, 2019, work session to raise the speed limit back to 30-mph," Beamer wrote.