Drivers cruising Scripps Poway Parkway between the western city limit and Community Road will soon have to ease off the gas, as Poway’s City Council has given preliminary approval to lower speed limits on 10 street segments across the city. The move follows a review of 55 road segments and comes after a parent’s account of a near-miss involving his son outside Twin Peaks Middle School pushed traffic safety into the spotlight at recent council meetings.
The council unanimously approved the 2026 Engineering and Traffic Survey on September 15, and members plan to formally adopt the underlying ordinance at their October 6 meeting, according to Pomerado News. Nine of the 10 segments will see speed limits drop by 5 mph, while Scripps Poway Parkway takes the steepest cut, falling from 55 mph to 45 mph on its western stretch even though most traffic there currently travels around 50 mph.
Which Streets Are Getting Slower
Beyond Scripps Poway Parkway’s two adjusted segments, the list includes Camino Del Norte, which drops from 50 mph to 45 mph between the western city limit and Pomerado Road, and Danielson Street and General Atomics Way, both falling from 35 mph to 30 mph between Community Road and Kirkham Way. Kirkham Road will see two separate reductions along different stretches, while Kirkham Way, Twin Peaks Road, Lake Poway Road, Oak Knoll Road, and Stowe Drive round out the rest of the list, per the same report.
Not every street is changing, though. Midland Road will keep its current limits — 35 mph on segments north and south of downtown, and 25 mph from Aubrey Street to Edgemoor Street near Old Poway Park — after collected data supported maintaining the status quo there. Poway’s Director of Development Services, Julie Procopio, told the council that lowering Midland Road’s limit would make it harder for law enforcement to justify speed-limit tickets on that stretch.
Why the Survey Had to Be Redone
Poway’s last citywide traffic survey was prepared in 2019 and approved by the council in 2020. Under California law, that kind of engineering and traffic survey is only valid for five years — and can be extended to seven or 14 years only if specific conditions are met — meaning the city needed a fresh review to keep its legal footing. California Vehicle Code § 40802 defines what counts as an unlawful speed trap and can invalidate radar speed enforcement in traffic court unless a roadway’s posted limit is backed by a survey completed within that window, subject to statutory exceptions for local streets, school zones, senior zones, business activity districts and certain speed limits, according to Justia Law…