TO:Andrew P. Powers, City Manager
FROM:Clifford G. Finley, Public Works Director
DATE:November 19, 2024
SUBJECT: Hendrix Avenue Speed Hump Petition
RECOMMENDATION:
1. Deny appeal to overturn Traffic and Transportation Advisory Commission (TTAC) denial of request to install speed humps on Hendrix Avenue between Janss Road and Gainsborough Road.
2. Find that this action is not a project as defined under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
LEVINE ACT ITEM: No
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
No Additional Funding Requested. Minimal staff time to process the appeal and staff report is included in the Appeal Fee submitted by the Appellant.
BACKGROUND:
In 1983, City Council adopted a Speed Hump Policy that established criteria and procedures for the evaluation of neighborhood requests for the installation of speed humps on residential streets. The purpose of the policy was to balance the utility of speed humps with the cost, burden to emergency vehicle response times, and inconvenience to the motoring public caused by the proliferation of speed humps. The City Council has periodically reviewed the Speed Hump Policy to ensure that it meets the City’s needs. The Speed Hump Policy was most recently reviewed and approved by the City Council in 2022.
Hendrix Avenue, between Gainsborough Road and Janss Road, is a local residential street that provides access to other streets in the local neighborhood and has a 25-mph speed limit (Attachment #1). A petition signed by 37 of the 49 properties fronting Hendrix Avenue was submitted to City staff in October 2023 requesting the installation of speed humps to mitigate traffic speed and volume concerns. The October 2023 petition met the required 75 percent neighborhood
Hendrix Avenue Speed Hump Petition
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support threshold to qualify for an internal engineering study by City staff and subsequent review for compliance with the City’s Speed Hump Policy by the City’s TTAC.
Staff conducted the traffic engineering study in early November 2023 and found that the existing roadway conditions did not meet the minimum requirements outlined in the City’s Speed Hump Policy. Specifically, the Daily Traffic Volumes were only approximately half of what is required per the Speed Hump Policy.
On January 24, 2024, the item was brought before TTAC. Six public speakers attended, with five in support and one opposed to speed humps. Eight statement cards were submitted, four in support of speed humps and four opposed. In total, nine residents supported the installation of speed humps, and five residents opposed it. The TTAC voted 5-0 to deny the neighborhood petition due to the failure of the roadway conditions to meet the City’s Speed Hump Policy requirements. The TTAC provided feedback, asking staff to coordinate with residents to explore traffic calming alternatives to address the concerns of the residents on Hendrix Avenue. The TTAC meeting staff report and attachments, including the City’s Speed Hump Policy are provided as Attachment #2.
DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS:
On February 7, 2024, a resident on Hendrix Avenue filed an appeal of the TTAC decision of January 24, 2024, along with the required appeal fee (Attachment #3).
Section C of the City’s Speed Hump Policy allows appeals of TTAC decisions filed within 14 calendar days, so that the matter can be considered by City Council. The appellant’s appeal on February 7 requested:
“That City Council grant this Appeal, to rescind and overturn the 01/24/2024 TTAC denial of the Speed Hump Petition for Hendrix Avenue, and to instead grant such Petition to install speed humps on Hendrix Avenue between Janss Road and Gainsborough Road, in addition to any and all other such relief City Council deems appropriate and necessary.”
In the appeal, the appellant requested that the minimum traffic volume threshold in the January 2024 analysis reviewed by TTAC be lowered from 2,000 vpd to 1,500 vpd, as allowed in the Speed Hump Policy due to the unique characteristics along the roadway, including a school fronting the street and short cutting traffic between Gainsborough Road and Janss Road. Staff followed up on the concern of short-cutting traffic and performed a license plate survey during the morning school arrival and afternoon dismissal periods. The results confirmed the existence of some short-cutting traffic between Gainsborough Road and Janss Road, beyond the threshold identified in the speed hump policy. Short-cutting traffic, paired with the presence of a school zone, qualifies for the street to be Hendrix Avenue Speed Hump Petition
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evaluated under the lower 1,500 vpd threshold. However, even with the reduced 1,500 vpd threshold, the current traffic volumes on Hendrix Avenue continue to fall well short of the City’s criteria to qualify for speed humps.
Following the TTAC’s denial of the petition in January 2024, staff explored and implemented several alternative roadway improvement and traffic calming solutions in an attempt to reduce speeds within the neighborhood. A summary of the measures that were implemented over the past several months are as follows:
•Installation of additional (and larger) speed limit and school zone signs; •Trimmed tree branches identified to improve effectiveness of streetlights; •Conducted speed limit enforcement;
•Deployment of portable radar feedback signs;
•Installation of yellow centerline striping to deter vehicles from driving down the center of the roadway;
•Installation of two new radar feedback signs.
New traffic engineering field measurements were collected in October 2024 to determine if the City’s various implemented measures had any impact on the traffic conditions on Hendrix Avenue. The traffic data from three locations recorded in November 2023 were repeated; the data shown below depicts the 2023 data along with the updated 2024 data side by side in parenthesis, as follows:
Location/Criteria
Daily Traffic
VPD
‘23 (‘24)
% over
25 mph
‘23 (‘24)
Prevailing
Speed (85th)
mph ‘23 (‘24)
Between Janss Rd & Donnick Ave
(at 1753 / 1775 Hendrix Avenue)
Existing Conditions - 2023 (2024) 867 (858) 84% (77%) 35 (33) Speed Hump Policy Min. Required 1,500 75 % --
Meets Policy Requirement? No (No) Yes (Yes) --
N. of Feather Ave. (1609 Hendrix)
Existing Conditions - 2023 (2024) 957 (898) 72% (63%) 32 (30) Speed Hump Policy Min. Required 1,500 75 % --
Meets Policy Requirement? No (No) No (No) --
N. of Knowles St. (1363 Hendrix)
Existing Conditions - 2023 (2024) 785 (740) 70% (59%) 32 (35) Speed Hump Policy Min. Required 1,250 75 % --
Meets Policy Requirement? No (No) No (No) --
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The data listed above shows that daily traffic volumes have reduced slightly from the previous year, and the cumulative impact of the traffic control measures implemented over the past 10 months has resulted in a notable reduction in the percentage of vehicles traveling greater than 25 mph at all three locations where data was collected. The northerly segment of Hendrix Avenue, where 84 percent of the traffic was measured traveling greater than 25 mph in 2023, has now decreased to 77 percent traveling over 25 mph in 2024. The middle segment experienced a reduction from 72 percent in 2023 to 63 percent in 2024. Finally, the southerly segment saw a reduction from 70 percent in 2023 to 59 percent in 2024.
Vehicle speeds on Hendrix Avenue continue to match the speeds observed on typical residential streets of similar type and function, between 30 and 35 mph. The data indicates that 85 percent of vehicles are traveling at or below 35 mph in the petition zone. Speed limit enforcement was conducted by the Thousand Oaks Police Department periodically along the roadway throughout 2024. The results of the enforcement yielded a low number of overall citations (Attachment #4).
The highest measured traffic volume on Hendrix Avenue is the segment north of Feather Avenue that currently carries 898 vpd, which is only 60 percent of the minimum 1,500 vpd requirement to qualify for speed humps. This is similar to the data collected from November 2023, which at 957 vpd was only 63 percent of the 1,500 vpd required volume threshold needed to qualify for speed humps.
The current Speed Hump Policy was last reviewed and revised by City Council in June 2022 after all components of the policy were reviewed and updated by TTAC. The minimum daily traffic volume threshold in the policy was judged to be appropriate in 2022, and therefore was not changed. Although other public agencies may have differing speed hump policy standards, the City of Thousand Oaks’ Speed Hump Policy is based on feedback from the community, emergency response teams (police, fire, ambulance, etc.), and input from TTAC. The current policy was crafted to meet the needs of the unique traffic characteristics of this community.
When a street fails to qualify for the installation of speed humps, it is generally due to the inability to meet the minimum daily traffic volume threshold. This is the case with the current appeal on Hendrix Avenue. Since 2020, the City has evaluated two other speed hump petition requests, and both streets failed to meet the minimum daily traffic volume threshold. TTAC denied both petition requests. One street carried a higher number of vehicles daily than Hendrix Avenue, while the other street had less. A minimum traffic volume standard is a key feature of the Speed Hump Policy and is included in the policy to avoid an excessive number of speed hump installations throughout the City.
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Staff recommends denial of the appeal of the January 24, 2024, TTAC decision as the roadway conditions fail to meet the minimum requirements outlined in the City Speed Hump Policy. The field data after the additional roadway elements installed by the City over the past year coupled with field enforcement efforts have substantiated that Hendrix Avenue did not meet the minimum standards required to qualify for speed humps in 2023, and continues to fail to qualify for speed humps in 2024. Staff will continue to review the additional roadway elements that have been installed to monitor traffic on Hendrix Avenue going forward.
Community Outreach: Staff has worked closely with the lead petitioners and other neighbors since October 2023 to communicate, evaluate, explore, and implement various traffic calming measures. The public notice for the November 19, 2024, appeal was posted, and additional notices were mailed to approximately 195 residents (Attachment #5).
COUNCIL GOAL COMPLIANCE:
Meets the following City Council goals:
B. Provide municipal government leadership which is open and responsive to residents, and is characterized by ethical behavior, stability, promoting public trust, transparency, confidence in the future, and cooperative interaction among civic leaders, residents, business representatives, and staff, while recognizing and respecting legitimate differences of opinion on critical issues facing the City.
D. Maintain strong commitment to public safety (including Police, Fire, Emergency Medical Services, and Emergency Management) to ensure City remains one of the safest Cities in the United States with a population over 100,000.
F. Provide and enhance essential infrastructure to ensure that the goals and policies of the Thousand Oaks General Plan are carried out and the City retains its role and reputation as a leader in protecting the environment and preserving limited natural resources.
PREPARED BY: Jim Mashiko, Sr. Civil Engineer
Attachments:
Attachment #1 – Vicinity and Location Maps
Attachment #2 – January 24, 2024, TTAC Staff Report
Attachment #3 – Written Appeal of January 24, 2024, TTAC Decision Attachment #4 – Results of Speed Limit Enforcement
Attachment #5 – November 19, 2024, City Council Meeting Notification DPW: 823-10\ev\Council\2024\111924\Hendrix Avenue Speed Hump Petition staff report.docx