Why Is There a 19 mph Speed Limit on This Road in Portland, ME?

We're all pretty familiar with speed limit signs, right? There are signs on the side of the road that tell drivers the fastest that can drive, also known as the "speed limit." I know, thinking, "Jeff...um....we all know this." Yes, you do. But why does one road in Portland have a 19 mph speed limit?

It Wasn't Always 19 mph

Digging back into Google Maps archives, I noticed that in 2009, the sign was 15 mph. It's located in a housing development off of Congress Street in Portland called River's Edge Drive.

Fast forward to October 2015, and Google Maps shows the speed limit sign at 19 mph, and it has been that way for 10 years. As you can see, the housing development has been developed even more.

Hey 19! Why?

The photo above shows what proper speed limits look like, and this one conforms to Maine Title 29-A: Motor Vehicles and Traffic, which specifically states that "speed limits set by a municipality must be in 5-mile-per-hour increments."

So how does River's Edge Drive get away with this?

It comes down to one word in Title 29-A: "Municipality."

Since Rivers Edge Drive is a private road and is not maintained by the city of Portland, the homeowners' association put up its own signs to address speeding issues.

Let's be honest, 15 mph is hard for some drivers to even comprehend, much less obey.

The idea behind a 19 mph speed limit sign is to combat speeding since the older 15 mph signs were often ignored. Since a 19 mph speed limit is an odd number and does not conform to what we're used to seeing, it catches drivers' eyes, and they slow down.

It must be doing the trick after 10 years, but it still looks weird.