I ran every street in Salt Lake City. It’s time for 20 mph speed limits.

By Bryant Heath, Salt Lake City resident

In January 2020, I embarked on a project to run every street in Salt Lake City, ultimately finishing out the last of the 994 miles on December 13, 2020. Through my running, I got to see, literally, everything there is about Salt Lake City: all the amazing sites, all the great restaurants and small businesses, and all the beautiful neighborhoods.

Unfortunately, I also got to witness first-hand some of the not-so-great aspects about our city, and at the top of the list are the unsafe conditions created by irresponsible drivers. It’s probably unsurprising to most, but poor driving is prevalent throughout Salt Lake City – whether it be from the East Bench down to the Brickyard or out to Westpointe – and it is leading to dangerous conditions in each of our communities, particularly for our children playing in their front yards.

The chief hazard I witnessed on nearly all of my 118 runs throughout the city is excessive speeding in residential streets. It did not matter how many little green men were out on the curb waving orange flags to warn of children in the neighborhood, or how many “drive like your children live here” signs I passed. I regularly saw car after car simply ignore these warnings and recklessly drive down small residential streets at speeds much greater than the posted 25 mph limit. It’s not just the danger posed by each of these thoughtless drivers but the pervasiveness of the problem (often it was easier to count the number of cars not speeding than the speeders) that kept me on high alert. 

And what would happen if I was a child, casually riding my bicycle around, oblivious to the danger of speeding cars? As the father of two young children, this is what truly terrifies me and why it is difficult for me to let them play in our unfenced front yard.

This is why I am a strong advocate for reducing the residential speed limit as championed by Sweet Streets SLC and their “20 is Plenty” initiative. Having a lower speed limit in residential areas reduces stoppage distance, so if a driver needs to brake for that unknowing child chasing a ball into the street, there is a greater likelihood the car will stop in time. It also provides a psychological “anchoring point” to a lower speed limit: 5 mph over the speed limit at 20 mph still results in a dramatic decrease in speed compared to 5 mph over the posted speed limit of 25 mph.

The Salt Lake City government needs to reduce the residential speed limit within the city to 20 mph and enforce the speed limit more consistently in order to keep our communities safe, provide a better balance between vehicles and pedestrians, and protect our children. 

20 is plenty.

— Bryant Heath

Bryant Heath is a Sugar House resident who made headlines in 2020 after he ran every street in Salt Lake City.