Drivers could see reductions in the speed limits on local gravel roads thanks to a new law signed Jan. 5 by Gov. Rick Snyder.

Part of Public Act 445 gives municipalities in counties with populations of 1 million or more the option to ask the road commission to lower the speed limit on unpaved, unposted roads from the maximum 55 miles per hour to 45 mph.

Currently, the only two counties with populations of 1 million or more are Oakland and Wayne.

No speed study is required to make this change.

“It’s just (a matter of sending) a request to the road commission and the road commission agreeing to it,” explained former state Rep. Brad Jacobsen (R-Oxford), who recently wrapped up his third and final term in Lansing.

“Generally, we’re not anticipating contesting (requests from) anybody asking to do that,” said Craig Bryson, spokesman for the Road Commission for Oakland County. “If they ask (for) it, we’ll review the road and unless there’s some glaring reason not to do it, we’ll agree to do it.”

Jacobsen sponsored the bill that became this law. He introduced it back in April 2015 and it’s been a long road – no pun intended – to get it approved.

“I would have been heartbroken if it hadn’t passed after all the work we’ve put into it over the years,” he said.

Jacobsen believes 55 mph is simply too fast for many of the gravel roads in rural areas given their twists, turns, narrow widths, limited sight distance and rough surfaces.

“Very rarely are any of our roads here safe – other than perhaps the day after they get graded – to do 55 (mph),” he said.

Having drivers traveling so fast on gravel roads can also pose a safety hazard to pedestrians using them for recreational purposes such as bicycling, jogging and horseback riding, according to Jacobsen. He pointed out that in many rural areas, there are no sidewalks or safety paths along unpaved roads.

Under the new law, the requesting municipality must pay the costs for any “sign, signal or device” that’s needed as a result of lowering the speed limit to 45 mph.

“That was one of the requests of the road commission,” Jacobsen explained. “The Oakland County Road Commission had an estimate that it was going to cost them between $600,000 and $800,000 to put up signs if they had to do it on their own.”

“I could see that point,” he continued. “If the townships want to reduce (speed limits), they need to pay for the signs. To enforce it, you would have to put a sign up.”

To Bryson, the new law represents a fair compromise.

“It provides additional (speed limit) options for the gravel roads, which is what (Jacobsen) and a number of other people were seeking,” he said. “And it doesn’t put the financial burden on us, so we appreciate that.”

“We worked a fair amount with Representative Jacobsen to make some tweaks to it,” Bryson noted. “We’re satisfied with where it is.”

Under the new law, municipalities in counties with a populations of 1 million or more may request speed limits lower than 45 miles per hour, however, that the triggers the need for “a speed study . . . on the fastest portion of the road segment in question” in order to establish what the new limit should be.

This study must be conducted by the Michigan State Police in conjunction with the road commission and requesting municipality. It must be “completed between 3 and 14 days after a full gravel road maintenance protocol has been performed on the road segment,” the law states.

This protocol consists of “road grading and the application of a dust abatement chemical treatment.”

Municipalities are financially responsible for any signs, signals or devices needed because of the new speed limit that results from the study.

Bryson noted the road commission is “presuming” there will be a significant number of requests under this new law.

“The speed limit on gravel roads has remained an emotional issue in some communities, so we wouldn’t be a bit surprised if it did come up a fair amount,” he said.

As such, Bryson advised municipalities and residents to be patient.

“The implementation will be a little bit tricky and it will be time-consuming,” he said. “We want to make sure people understand this isn’t going to happen overnight.”

Bryson explained “it’s going to take some time” to erect new signage to meet the 45-mph requests and if lower limits are requested, it will “take quite a bit of time” for the state police to conduct the necessary speed studies.

“They’re very limited in the resources they have to do those studies,” he said.

“We’re going to be sending out a letter to all the communities, outlining what we kind of envision as the process,” Bryson noted.

Public Act 445 is designed to offset the impact of a 2006 state law that eliminated the 25 mph posted speed limit on 283 unpaved road segments in Oakland County.

Of those, 248 road segments became unposted, meaning motorists are required to drive at a safe speed given the conditions, with the maximum allowable speed being 55 mph.

In Oxford Township, 20 sections of unpaved road went to an unposted 55 mph.

Addison Township saw 19 of its road segments go from 25 to 55 mph.

When the 2006 law was approved, there was quite an uproar from the public. Many citizens and local officials expressed strong opposition based on safety concerns.

Jacobsen said the issue doesn’t get “quite as much play as it used to,” but his office “still got fairly regular complaints about people driving too fast on gravel roads throughout the northern part of the county.”

Despite resident perceptions, Bryson said for the most part, the 55 mph speed limit hasn’t really caused a lot of problems.

“In most cases, very few people were driving above 45 (mph) on the gravel roads to begin with,” he said. “I think the average speed we’ve clocked around the county is somewhere around 38 miles an hour. “

Many people were opposed to the 2006 law because they feared it would result in a sharp increase in accidents, but the data gathered by the road commission seemed to prove otherwise.

Based on figures provided by the road commission, the number of gravel road accidents countywide began to decline after all of the 25 mph speed limit signs were removed in 2009.

They went from 447 crashes in 2008 to 371 in 2010. The number continued to decrease in 2011 and 2012 with 345 and 321 crashes, respectively. Crashes increased to 402 in 2013, but then dipped again with 328 occurring in 2014.