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Staff Report
City Council
Item No. 3.D
Meeting Date: December 14, 2022
From: John Corella, Director of Engineering/Public Works Title: Street Hump Policy Review
City Council
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff is presenting the City's Speed Hump Policy to th e City Council for discussion, comments and direction.
BACKGROUND:
Nationwide, vehicles speeding on streets has been a challenge since the invention of the automobile. As urban areas expanded, so did roadways and vehicular traffic. As vehicles became more powerful, speeds increased accordingly. With respect to the aforementioned, residential neighborhood streets have also been affected by speeding vehicles, despite the efforts of the residents and local law enforcement over the years.
Cathedral Cit y is not immune to the challenges of speeding in residential neighborhoods. Since the City’s incorporation , the City Engineering and Police Department’s have received complaints regarding vehicles speeding on City streets, especially in neighborhood reside ntial streets. Measures to reduce speeding on the streets is part of what is called “traffic calming.”
Per the U.S. Department of Transportation, “ Traffic calming consists of physical design and other measures put in place on existing roads to reduce ve hicle speeds and improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists. For example, vertical deflections (speed humps, speed tables, and raised intersections), horizontal shifts, and roadway narrowing are intended to reduce speed and enhance the street environment for non- motorists. Closures that obstruct traffic movements in one or more directions, such as median barriers, are intended to reduce cut -through traffic. Traffic calming measures can be implemented at an intersection, street, neighborhood, or area-wide level.”
Aware of these challenges since incorporation , the City has instituted traffic calming policies. These traffic calming policies have been modified and reworked over time to make it easier for residents to understand, for staff to implement, and to incorporate the lessons learned from past policy actions . Many traffic calming features are now incorporated into the upfront design and construction of street s, while others can be
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added after the roadway has been constructed and established with abutti ng residential housing. Speed humps are one of the measures used to provide traffic calming after a street is constructed.
As traffic calming information becomes more available to the public, t he installation of street humps is common ly and frequently requested by residents as a measure to reduce speed on their streets. This request for speed humps , while at first sound ing logical, is not without pitfalls that need to be thoroughly vetted up front.
A lesson learned from the past was that when City installed speed humps at the request of residents. These speed humps were well received initially for the short term . After the passing of time, the same residents requested that the speed humps the City installed, be removed, as this traffic calming feature became a nuisance in their daily commute. As the result, the City again modified its policy of contributing partially or fully to the installation of speed humps, so that it did not incur the cost of removal as well.
The most current Speed Hump Policy incorporates these modifications.
DISCUSSION:
The City’s current Speed Hump Policy (Policy) (attached to this Staff Report) provides residents with the criteria for speed hump installation on the ir residential road. The Policy provides a procedure and def ines where the speed humps can be installed and where they are prohibited. The Policy also states that the neighborhood residents are responsible for cost of the installation, maintenance, and removal of the speed humps.
The Speed Hump Policy requires the resident submit a written request to the Director of Engineering/Public Works. If the speed humps can be installed, the resident/applicant shall prepare and circulate a petition identifying the candidate street(s), the address of each home with signatur e block for resident to sign (preferably the property owner), to indicate approval/disapproval of the speed hump installation, location of possible speed humps, and the removal procedure. All occupied homes must be contacted within the street section. At t he minimum, 66% of the residents on the street need to approve the study and the proposed speed hump installation location as well as acknowledge that the installation, maintenance, and removal of the speed hump will be at the residents’ expenses. Also, 100% of the residence s adjacent to where the proposed speed humps and signage will be placed, are required to approve of the installation.
Subsequently, the City will perform a traffic study to determine if the traffic volume and measured 85 th percentile sp eed of traffic meet the policy requirements. The street geometry must also be taken into consideration for speed hump installation.
Staff has attached photos of speed humps installed in a residential neighborhood. The speed humps are installed at various locations, including next to driveway approaches.
The speed hump policy also provides alternatives to mitigate speeding challenges.
Speed feedback warning signs, concentrated Police enforcement , as well as the use of radar/speed trailers are a few of the methodologies available.
Note: for the 2022 calendar year, the Engineering Department has received eleven (11)
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requests for speed humps via phone call or email. The se requests are at various locations through out the City , including multiple requests for the following streets :
Avenida Quintana north of Vista Chino , Shifting Sands Trail between Mission Indian Trial and 33rd Street and Whispering Palms Trail between Mission Indian Trial and 33rd Street.
Staff is presenting the City's Speed Hump Policy to t he City Council for discussion, comments and direction.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact related to this discussion item.
ATTACHMENTS:
Speed Hump Policy - City of Cathedral City
Speed Hump Photos