WORCESTER, Mass. – Rob Bilotta says he'll be breathing a bit easier when he goes for his walks, knowing the city's statutory speed limit will soon be dropped to 25 miles per hour. Being in a wheelchair, he says navigating traffic isn't always the easiest thing to do.

"As a wheelchair user, you're definitely, people don't see you as well, and I've definitely had several close calls just in my own neighborhood where a car will stop and the car behind them won't stop but go around them, which I feel is like something new," Bilotta said.

Following months of discussion and debate, Worcester City Council voted unanimously to lower the statutory speed limit to 25 from 30 mph at its meeting Tuesday night.

"I know people can deal with it," said Councilor at-Large Kate Toomey. "If we can save a life by doing this and reducing our speed, I know not everybody's going to be driving 25, but we know every mile that you reduce it, you lessen the impact."

Worcester's change comes after numerous deadly and serious crashes on city streets. The city is now following in the footsteps of communities like Boston and Springfield in an effort to save lives.

Worcester will also establish special safe zones in busy areas like Belmont Street. In June, a teenage girl was struck and killed on the busy road.

But Bilotta says side streets aren't safe anymore.

"There's so much traffic on the main streets now," Bilotta said. "More people are finding those cut-throughs, through neighborhoods, and people are speeding on more of the side streets as well. It's really, I think across the board, major streets and side streets, neighborhood streets."

According to City Councilor Etel Haxhiaj, the city will have to advertise the adjusted speed limit for two weeks before the council takes a second vote to finalize the ordinance. All signs will then be replaced to reflect the 25 mile per hour limit.

Similar to Bilotta, it's welcome news for WalkBike Worcester, which is a group fighting to make the city a safe and walkable community.

"You can do a lot more with design to slow drivers, with cues that affect the human brain, than just a sign that tells people to slow down," said Karin Valentine Goins, the group's chairperson. "The road we're standing next to, there's too many lanes for the amount of travel, cars that travel here, vehicles," she said while on a Plantation Street sidewalk. "And they're too wide, and all it does is encourage people to speed up."

A spokesperson from the city manager's office says Worcester does not need state approval in order to make this change. Their hope is to have the signs ready to go come this fall.