Boise drivers can expect lower speed limits. What we know about the change
Boise drivers will soon see some lower speed limits.
In November, a driver hit and killed 8-year-old Mora Gerety as she tried to cross Harrison Boulevard. Soon after, the Ada County Highway District said it would lower speed limits to 20 miles per hour on several streets near where Gerety died, starting in January.
Now, the City Council is following suit. Council members voted Tuesday to make 20 miles per hour the default in more places when there are no posted limits.
“In light of the recent events and also concerns from neighbors about speeding in neighborhoods … this is something I hope that has a positive impact on addressing speed and traffic safety in neighborhoods,” Council Member Jimmy Hallyburton said during Tuesday’s council meeting.
But it’s not just Gerety’s death. Boise has seen 96 serious traffic-related injuries and seven traffic-related deaths so far in 2025, according to an internal memo about the speed-limit change.
Through streets with stop or yield signs have a default speed limit of 30 miles per hour. Boise’s ordinance repeals that section, making those streets subject to a default speed limit of 20 miles per hour. The city defines a through street as one where vehicles have the preferential right-of-way, and where drivers at intersecting streets must yield.
Higher speeds mean more serious collisions more often, and even small decreases in speed can substantially reduce crashes, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The change also makes speed limits easier for police to enforce, since they won’t have to clarify whether there are stop signs on a street, Council Member Meredith Stead said ahead of a unanimous vote.
The change will take effect on Sunday Dec. 21, city spokesperson Maria Ortega said in an email. It was not immediately clear how many streets the change affects.
