Speed limits

Interactive map of speed limits

Map data provided may not reflect unknown, recent, or pending changes, and the City of Portland assumes no liability for errors or omissions. Please email us for questions or corrections.

This is the landing page for the Speed Limits map. It shows the speed limits for non-highway streets in Portland. 

Why is lowering driving speeds a Vision Zero priority?

The City of Portland is committed to Vision Zero, the goal to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries.  Our work is grounded in the Safe System approach, which recognizes two important realities: 

1. People make mistakes that can lead to crashes
2. Human bodies are fragile

Safe travel speeds reduce the likelihood of crashes and, when crashes do occur, significantly reduce the risk of death or serious injury. 

As people travel faster, the risk of death or serious injury rises dramatically. The diagram below shows that a pedestrian struck by a person driving 40 mph is four times more likely to die than a pedestrian struck at 20 mph. Research suggests that lower speed limits lead to lower driving speeds, especially for people driving more than 10 mph over the limit.

View full size image of An infographic that shows a pedestrian hit at higher speeds has a higher likelihood of death or serious injury.

What makes a "safe speed"?

Urban places like Portland ask a lot from their city streets. Street design and speed limits must account for people traveling in different ways – walking, driving, using mobility devices, biking, skateboarding, transit, and more. 

We use the following nationally recognized best practices to guide speed limit decisions:

• A lower speed limit should be considered where there is less physical separation between people driving and vulnerable road users, e.g., people walking or biking. Sidewalks and protected bike lanes are examples of physical separation. 
• Street design can help reinforce a speed limit.
• Federal guidance and industry best practice recommend choosing speed limits that support adjacent land use, such as residential, commercial, or industrial. Recent studies suggest the speed traveled by half of the drivers, or the 50th percentile speed, may be a more appropriate speed limit for urban streets. Setting speed limits based on the 85th percentile is no longer considered best practice for urban areas.

Residential streets make up about 70 percent of Portland's roadway network. These streets are typically narrow, have few marked crosswalks, and no bike lanes. Given the tight space and in some neighborhoods, lack of protection for people walking, using mobility devices, and biking, it is extra important that people drive slowly on these streets. In 2018, the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) reduced speed limits on most residential streets to 20 mph.

How are speed limits set?

PBOT works in partnership with the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) to establish speed limits.ORS 810.180 grants ODOT primary authority to designate speeds on all public roadways. PBOT must request approval from ODOT to change speed limits on bigger streets that are not residential. ODOT follows an engineering process that considers crash history, traffic volumes, road design, federal functional classification, surrounding land use, and observed travel speeds (including 50th- and 85th- percentile speeds, the speed that 50% and 85% of people driving vehicles travel).

Vision Zero focuses safety investments on the High Crash Network — the 30 streets and intersections with the most serious crashes. These streets represent only 8% of Portland's roadway network, yet account for about 70% of traffic deaths. PBOT has identified over 40 miles of streets as priorities for potential speed limit reduction 2026 and 2027. Requests for speed limit review can be submitted through the 311 contact form for future consideration.

Speed reduction studies

• Anderson, JC., Unnikrishnan, A. (2022). Effect of speed limit reduction on arterials and collectors on driving speeds in Portland, Oregon. Portland State University, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. 
• Elvik, R., Christensen, P., & Amundsen, A. H. (2004). Speed and road accidents: An evaluation of the power model. Institute of Transport Economics.
• Hu W, Cicchino JB. Lowering the speed limit from 30 mph to 25 mph in Boston: effects on vehicle speeds. Injury Prevention 2020;26:99-102.
• Monfort, S. S., & Mueller, B. C. (2025). A modern injury risk curve for pedestrian injury in the United States: The combined effects of impact speed and vehicle front-end height. Journal of Safety Research, 94, 235–241. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2025.06.030

Miles of street by speed limit

Represented as percentages of Portland's approximately 2,100 miles of street

View full size image of Graph showing number of miles of street by speed limit in Portland.

Speed limit changes since 2017

Listed by year, then alphabetically by street name

Data provided may not reflect unknown, recent, or pending changes, and the City of Portland assumes no liability for errors or omissions. Please email us for questions or corrections.

Updated 6/3/2026