D.C. Council Overrides Mayor On Speed Limits

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Speed limits on some major commuter routes in the nation's capital won't be going up after all.

District of Columbia Mayor Vincent Gray had issued an emergency order to raise the speed limits on four streets by 5 mph each.

But on Tuesday, the D.C. Council overrode the mayor's orders and issued a new rule prohibiting the mayor from changing speed limits or speed-camera fines without council approval.

A spokeswoman for Council Chairman Phil Mendelson tells The Washington Examiner that the mayor usurped the council's authority to set speed limits and camera fines.

Gray spokesman Pedro Ribeiro says the mayor acted within his powers. He says speed limits are regulatory in nature and should not be legislated.

The change means new speed-limit signs will have to be taken down.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)