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~.CASE SPEED LIMITS OF SUNWOOD DRIVE By: Steve Jankowski, City Engineer Background: You may recall 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. Such conditions are not uncommon during the winter months, and 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 an opportunity to perform such a study may not be realized until spring. I have received several inquiries from the public regarding the lack of a posted speed limit on the western portion of Sunwood Drive ~ East. You may recall that 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. To date, I have 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. I have consulted with MnDOT regarding this situation and determined that the following altematives to the City exist: Altemative 1: Make no changes at this time. Our existing position of posting no speed limit is not uncommon. Many rural highways throughout the state do 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 in that 55 miles per hour is certainly not an appropriate speed limit on this roadway. The road also transitions from an urban to a rural setting which further causes confusion as to what an appropriate speed limit should be. Nonetheless, citizens are protected from unreasonable speed by the Basic Speed Law which applies in all 50 states. This law states "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". Alternative 2: Put up temporary signs posting the speed limit at the design speed of 40 miles per hour. In speaking with the individual at MnDOT responsible for traffic issues such as these, this is what some communities have done in similar situations. The negative aspect of this is that we are posting a limit which has not been authorized. It is poor policy for government to knowingly violate or ignore any law. Secondly, some neighborhood resident may feel 40 miles per hour is too high a speed limit. When no speed study has been performed, their argument may be difficult to refute. Alternative 3: Put up temporary speed limit sign posting the minimum speed at 30 miles per hour, the lowest posting available. The negative aspect of this, again, is that the posting is not authorized, since the western segment is clearly a rural area for speed limit posting purposes. Secondly, we likely will face upset neighbors 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. Alternative 4: Request MnDOT to consider authorizing a temporary limit. It is my understanding that 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 probably 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.