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Councilmember Zimmerman suggested that Mr. Jankowski get in touch with the couple at the northwest comer of Ute. Consensus of the Road and Bridge Committee was to table this request until Mr. Jankowski has had a chance to review the accident history. This will be discussed at the next meeting. Case #2: Speed Limits of Sunwood Drive City Engineer Jankowski reported that at the November 12, 1996 Road and Bridge Committee meeting, and subsequent Council meeting, a resolution was passed petitioning the Department of Transportation to perform a speed study to determine the appropriate speed limits for the newly constructed segments of Sunwood Drive. Such speed studies must be performed under good road conditions with bare pavement from curb to curb. It was hoped that the study could be completed within a period of weeks, however, with the extreme amount of snowfall received to date, it now seems quite probably that the opportunity to perform such a study may not be realized until spring. Mr. Jankowski reported that he has received inquiries from the public regarding the lack of a posted speed limit on the western portion of Sunwood Drive - East. There are presently two, 30 mile per hour speed limit signs, one facing in either direction, which are located east of the bridge. These limits were posted back when Wood Pond Hills was developed. Mr. Jankowski stated that, to date, he has responded to such inquiries by stating that we will post no signage until the speed study has been completed and an appropriate speed limit is authorized. He has consulted with MnDOT regarding this situation and determined that there are alternatives. He stated that the first alternative would be to make no changes at this time. It is not uncommon to not have posted limits. However, most of these situations are to rural areas and the enforceable limit is, therefore, 55 miles per hour. Our situation is somewhat different as 55 miles per hour is not appropriate for this roadway. He explained that citizens are protected from unreasonable speed by the Basic Speed Law which applies in all 50 states. This law states that "No person shall drive a vehicle upon a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable or prudent having due regard for weather, visibility, the traffic thereon, and, in no event, at a speed which endangers the safety of persons on property". The second alternative would be putting up temporary signs posting the speed limit at the design speed of 40 miles per hour. Some communities have done this, however, the negative aspect of this is that we are posting a limit which has not been authorized. Some neighborhood resident may feel 40 miles per hour is too high a speed limit and when no speed study has been performed, their argument may be difficult to refute. The third alternative is putting up temporary speed limit signs posting the minimum speed at 30 miles per hour, which is the lowest posting available. It's possible neighbors would be upset when the speed limit is raised following the speed study at which time we may have to admit that we posted an unauthorized speed limit. The fourth alternative is to request MnDOT to consider authorizing a temporary limit. This has been done in unusual situations. This option eliminates the negative aspect of violating state law associated with posting unauthorized limits. An emergency authorization can be made in two to three weeks, however, the posting and potential re-posting of speed limits following the speed study may cause confusion and focus undue attention on the limits as a neighborhood issue. Mr. Jankowski noted that the Police Department has not noticed any unusual degree of speeding along this segment of the road. The Road and Bridge Committee/January 14, 1997 Page 5 of6