Agenda - Council - 11/12/1996 - Laserfiche WebLink

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SPEED LIMIT CHANGES CHAPTER lj Speed 1Lmits should be determined by an En- giheering and Traffic Study of the street sec- tion involx;ed. Of consideration in reviewing a speed limit change should be the 85th per- centile speed ( ~t which 85% of the traffic is traveling slowe~, than this speed), the location of sidewalks, driveways, obstructions, the horizontal and: vert/cal aligrmaent of the street, the use of the street by pedestrians and the existence of hazards which are not easy to detect by drivers. Effects Volumes. Little or no effect. Speed. Drivers generally ignore posted speed limits, and travel at speeds which the' drivers consider reasonable, comfortable, convenient and i safe under existing condi- tions. Drivers appear not to operate by the speedometer, bfit by the conditions they meet. A speed.limit change accompanied by enforcement may see a speed reduction (see Chapter 2 on enforcement). Traffic Noise, A_kr~ Quality and Energy Con- sumption. Little or no effect. Traffic Safety. Effects of speed limit changes on traffic safety ion local residential streets have not been reported. Commtmity ReaCtion. If speed limit signs posted are si .g~.','eantly lower than prevailing SPEED ZONE AHEAD SPEED LIMIT 4O SPEED LIMIT $0 traffic speed, residents normally place some hope in them, or in subsequent enforcement. However, if the posted t/mits are w/thin a few miles per hour of the previously prevaging traffic speed, they really don't address the residents" problem. Since residents may feel that speeds of 25 to 35 m.p.h, are too fast O/mits which are enforced on roughly 80% of the residential streets in the United States), the basic issue is not whether the signs are effective, but the way in which the speed limits themselves are set for local streets in the United States. Cost Minimal for a section of street. Institute of Transportation Englneerst Residential Street Design and Traffic Control Neighborhood Traffic ~Control c January 1994