City Council
259 N. Wilma Avenue
Ripon, CA 95366
MEMO
To: Honorable City Council
From: Mitchell Ulrich, Civil Enginer Tech I
Date: 01/13/2026
Subject: Engineering and Traffic Survey
RECOMMENDED ACTION
Staff to present findings and recommendations from the 2025 Engineering and Traffic Survey.
BACKGROUND
At the request of the Ripon Police Department, the City’s Engineering Department has completed an Engineering and Traffic Survey (E&TS) for review. In short, an E&TS is the justification for establishing and enforcing safe speed limits within the City of Ripon. The previous E&TS was completed in 2015. If an E&TS is not completed every seven to fourteen years, it inhibits the City’s ability to effectively enforce and prosecute speeding violations. Radar enforcement is specifically prohibited on any street segment without a current E&TS.
The California Vehicle Code (CVC) indicates that prima facie speed limits on roadways are 25 miles per hour (mph) in residential and business districts and 15 miles per hour at railroad grade crossings, highway intersections with sight restrictions and on any alley. The CVC does allow for intermediate speed limits to be set after a local jurisdiction (1) determines upon the basis of an Engineering and Traffic Survey that a speed greater than 25 mph would facilitate the orderly movement of vehicular traffic and would be reasonable and safe, and (2) the local authority approves an ordinance that declares a prima facie speed limit of 30, 35, 40, 45, or 50 mph for each segment studied.
DISCUSSION
City of Ripon staff has prepared an Engineering and Traffic Survey for 41 roadway segments within the City of Ripon. These surveys were performed in compliance with the current laws and practices of the State of California in order to set an intermediate speed limit above the 25 mph prima facie speed limit and continue to allow the Ripon Police Department to enforce speed limits with the use of radar.
As part of the E&TS, when determining the appropriate speed limit, considerations are made for prevailing speeds, collision records, highway traffic and roadside conditions not readily apparent to the driver.
Prevailing speeds. The data from the survey was used to calculate the prevailing, which is the speed at which 85 percent of the vehicles traveled. The CVC and MUTCD prescribes that a speed limit shall be established at the nearest 5 mph increment to the critical 85th percentile speed. In cases in which the speed limit needs to be rounded up to the nearest five miles per hour increment of the 85th percentile speed, the local authority may decide to instead round down the speed limit to the lower five miles per hour increment without justification. There is an extended list of justifications that can be included to lower the limit by another 5 mph with sound engineering judgement.
Collision records. The police department provided collision records for each segment evaluated in the Engineering and Traffic Survey, which were considered when evaluating the recommended speed limit. The raw traffic collision data is included at the end of the report.
Roadside conditions. Conditions of the roadway are considered in determining the appropriate speed limit, such as safe routes to schools, roadway geometrics, adjacent speed limits, pedestrian volume, and more.
The following table summarizes the results of the data collected and recommendations of the Engineering and Traffic Survey:
85th Percentile Speed Limit Collisions
NO
.
Location of
Survey
Survey
Date
Boundaries Direction 2015 2025 Current Recommended 2022- 2025
Notes/Justifications
1. Acacia Ave. 9/16/25 Fourth to
Doak
North
South
n/a 33
35 25 25 15 Remain at 25 to conform to
larger portion of street
2. Canal St. 8/14/25 Jack Tone to
Wilma
East
West
38 38
38 38
35 35 9 N/A
3. Colony Rd. 8/19/25 Jack Tone to
Fulton
East
West
38 36
38 38
35 35 52 N/A
4. Colony Rd. 8/19/25 N. Ripon to
Fulton
East
West
38 39
36 39
35 35 3 N/A
5. Doak Blvd. 8/15/25 Mohler to
Vera
East
West
38 39
40 38
35 35 5 N/A
6. Doak Blvd. 8/18/25 Vera to
Stockton
East
West
38 38
39 44
35 35 2 Remain at 35 due to adjacent
land and connecting streets
7. Fourth St. 9/23/25 East of
Stockton
East
West
n/a 29
29 25 30 2 Raise speed limit to 30 mph
8. Frontage Rd. 8/21/25 Arc to Brady East
West
38 39
43 43
35 35 3 Remain at 35 due to roadway
geometrics and adjacent land
9. Frontage Rd. 8/21/25 E. Main to
Acacia
East
West
45 45
40 42
35 35 8 Remain at 35 due to roadway
geometrics and adjacent land
10. Fulton Rd. 8/20/25 Arc to River North
South
39 39
40 38
35 35 12 N/A
11. Garrison Way 9/30/25 Maple to
Kamps
East
West
n/a 35
33 25 30 1 Raise speed limit to 30 mph
12. Garrison Way 9/24/25 Stockton to
Dead End
East
West
n/a 32
33 25 25 0 Remain at 25 due to
connecting streets
13. Goodwin Dr. 9/26/25 Frontage to
Colony
North
South
41 39
39 38
35 35 2 N/A
14. Highland Ave. 8/25/25 W. Ripon to
Doak
North
South
38 38
37 36
35 35 3 N/A
15. Hoff Dr. 9/23/25 Colony to
Santos
North
South
37 35
35 36
25 35 15 Raise speed limit to 35 mph
16. Industrial Ave. 10/23/25 Main to
Fourth
North
South
n/a 26
28 25 25 2 N/A
17. Jack Tone Rd. 9/4/25 Doak to
Main
North
South
36 36
32 33
25 25 2 Remain at 25 due to school
zone and residential
18. Jack Tone Rd. 8/27/25 Main to
Overcrossing
North
South
45 48
47 47
45 45 8 N/A
19. Jack Tone
Overcrossing
10/24/25 Overcrossing North
South
48 48
39 36
35 35 3 N/A
20. Jack Tone Rd. 8/26/25 Santos to
River
North
South
48 47
51 48
45 45 10 N/A
21. Main St. 10/10/25 Industrial to
Vera
East
West
27 28
27 27
25 25 7 N/A
22. W. Main St. 11/21/25 Vera to Jack
Tone
East
West
39 36
37 36
35 35 34 N/A
23. Main St.
Overcrossing
10/21/25 E. Main to
Stockton
North
South
33 34
35 35
35 35 13 N/A
24. E. Main St. 10/20/25 Manley to
Overpass
East
West
40 36
35 35
35 35 8 N/A
25. Manley Rd. 9/16/25 Milgeo to
Main
North
South
39 38
36 36
35 35 6 N/A
26. Milgeo Ave. 9/15/25 Arc to
Murphy
East
West
37 38
34 35
30 30 15 Remain at 30 due to residential
and ped safety
27. Mohler Rd. 9/9/25 City Limits
to Doak
North
South
44 43
43 45
35 35 1 Remain at 35 due to residential
and ped safety
28. Parallel Ave. 10/8/25 Reynolds to
E. Main
East
West
n/a 37
34 25 30 2 Raise speed limit to 30 mph
29. N. Ripon Rd. 9/11/25 Milgeo to
River
North
South
41 39
42 42
35 35 10 Remain at 35 due to residential
30. N. Ripon Rd. 9/12/25 N. of River
Rd.
North
South
41 39
41 43
35 35 13 Remain at 35 due to adjacent
limits and residential
31. W. Ripon Rd. 9/8/25 Jack Tone to
City Limit
East
West
46 47
46 46
35 35 9 Remain at 35 due to adjacent
limits
32. River Rd. 9/17/25 Jack Tone to
N. Ripon
East
West
43 45
48 47
45 45 30 N/A
33. Robert Ave. 9/4/25 Doak to
Main
North
South
34 34
35 34
30 30 11 N/A
34. W Santos Ave. 9/10/25 Fulton to N.
Ripon
East
West
56 64
37 34
35 35 2 N/A
35. Santos Ave. 10/15/25 Hoff to
Frontage
East
West
n/a 36
36 25 35 25 Raise speed limit to 35 mph
36. Second St. 10/5/25 S. Stockton
to Wilma
East
West
34 34
34 33
30 30 22 N/A
37. N. Stockton
Ave.
9/15/25 Frontage to
Milgeo
North
South
41 41
38 38
35 35 8 N/A
38. S. Stockton
Ave.
9/23/25 Main to
Doak
North
South
38 35
37 39
35 35 9 N/A
39. N. Wilma Ave. 10/24/25 Main to North 37 34 30 30 25 N/A The findings of the Engineering and Traffic Survey reveal that 36 of the 41 surveyed street segments are recommended to remain at their current established speed limits, and would not require any changes to the existing posted regulatory signage or speed limit pavement markings.
Below is a summary of the recommended street segments to be changed:
Fourth St from S. Stockton Ave to Dead End – Raise from 25 mph to 30 mph Garrison Way from Maple Ave to Kamps Way – Raise from 25 mph to 30 mph Hoff Dr from Colony Rd to Santos Ave – Raise from 25 mph to 35 mph Parallel Ave from Reynolds Ave to E. Main St – Raise from 25 mph to 30 mph Santos Ave from Hoff Dr to Frontage Rd – Raise from 25 mph to 35 mph Additional supporting documentation of the survey’s methodology and findings are provided in the 2025 Engineering and Traffic Survey and attached appendices.
Attachments:
1. 2025 E&TS Draft
Roundabout South 35 35
40. Wilma Ave. to
Canal
11/19/25 Roundabout
to Canal
North
South
37 36
36 36
30 30 2 Remain at 30 due to roadway
geometrics and adjacent limits
41. Wilma
Overcrossing
10/24/25 Roundabout
to Arc
North
South
42 44
41 39
35 35 1 Remain at 35 due to roadway
geometrics and adjacent limits