Section 212.501. School zone speed limits

(a) Establishment. A 15 miles per hour school zone speed limit may be established in a school zone during the normal hours that walking students are arriving at or leaving school, under 75 Pa.C.S. § 3365(b) (relating to special speed limitations).

(1) To establish a school zone, local authorities shall be responsible to prepare and submit a drawing showing the locations where students walk along or across roadways that are adjacent to school property, the hours that students are going to or from school and the proposed limits for the school zone to the Department for approval.

(2) The Department is responsible for approving the establishment of all school zones, including the locations and hours of operation, except local authorities shall be responsible for approving school zones at the following locations:

(i) On local highways when the municipality has received municipal traffic engineering certification under Chapter 205 (relating to municipal traffic engineering certification).

(ii) On State-designated highways when the municipality has entered into an agreement with the Department thereby transferring to the local authorities the authority to install traffic-control devices without specific Department approval.

(iii) On highways in cities of the first and second class, except not on expressways.

(3) The duration of a 15 miles per hour school zone speed limit should be only long enough to include the time that walking students routinely arrive at or leave school.

(b) Posting. A school zone speed limit shall be posted on official traffic-control devices as follows:

(1) At the beginning of the school zone speed limit, one of the following signs or groups of signs shall be posted either on the right side of the roadway or over the roadway:

(i) A Speed Limit Sign (R2-1) with the appropriate school zone speed limit, with a School Panel (S4-3) mounted above the Speed Limit Sign (R2-1) and a When Flashing Sign (S4-4) mounted below the Speed Limit Sign (R2-1), with two flashing speed limit sign beacons.

(ii) A Speed Limit Sign (R2-1) with the appropriate school zone speed limit, with a School Panel (S4-3) mounted above the Speed Limit Sign (R2-1) and a Restricted Hours Panel (R10-20A) mounted below the Speed Limit Sign (R2-1).

(iii) A School Speed Limit When Flashing Sign with a blank-out ‘‘15’’ and flashers as illustrated in the Traffic Signal Design Handbook (Department Publication 149M).

(2) An End School Zone Sign (S5-2) shall be posted on the right side of the roadway to define the end of the school zone speed limit.

(3) The limits of a school zone may extend beyond the school property lines to improve the sight distance or to encompass a school crosswalk, except that the length of the zone may not be greater than 1,600 feet.