ACTION:
____________________________
Clerk/Secretary
Department: Engineering Item No: D2
Prepared by:
Husam Hasenin, Traffic Engineering
Division Manager Meeting Date: January 23, 2024
Approved by:
Greg Mayer, Director/City Engineer
John Conley, City Manager Agenda Location: Discussion
SUBJECT: NEW STATE REGULATIONS FOR ESTABLISHING SPEED LIMITS RECOMMENDATION:
1.Receive a report on new state regulations for establishing speed limits.
2.Authorize staff to add a task, through the City’s as-needed traffic engineering professional consultant services contract, to the ongoing Citywide Safety Action Plan to evaluate the City’s speed limits and make recommendations to the City Council at a future meeting for speed limit reductions in accordance with new state regulations.
CORRELATION TO CITY COUNCIL GOALS: Traffic: Continue to improve flow of traffic for all forms of travel, reduce congestion, and improve our roads and sidewalks.
PRIOR ACTION: None.
PRIOR TRAFFIC COMMISSION ACTION: None.
STATEMENT ON THE SUBJECT: State law governs the establishment of speed limits on public streets through provisions promulgated in the California Vehicle Code (CVC) and standards detailed in the California Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (CAMUTCD). In order for a speed limit to be enforceable by radar or other electronic devices, it must be established in accordance with the CVC and CAMUTCD. The CVC regulations assign various default (prima facie) speed limits for various types of roads. The regulations allow increases or decreases to the prima facie speed limits as justified by an Engineering and Traffic Survey (E&TS). Most speed limits other than on local residential and business district streets are established on the basis of an E&TS since the prima facie speed limits assigned by the CVC are typically high.
The most significant factor in an E&TS is the measured 85th percentile speed, which is the speed at or below which 85% of the traffic is moving. The current procedure requires that a speed limit be set by rounding up or down to the nearest 5 mph increment. The procedure allows for reductions to the rounded value based on safety “conditions not readily apparent to the driver” as documented by a registered engineer. The current regulation and standards allow for a reduction of up to 5 miles per hour (mph) to the value determined from the 85th percentile speed. These special conditions include: accident history, traffic and roadside conditions not readily apparent to the driver, residential density, and pedestrian and bicyclist safety. This information and any justification for reducing the speed limit must be clearly documented in the AGENDA
REPORT
CITY COUNCIL
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
SUCCESSOR AGENCY
BUENA SANITATION DISTRICT
JOINT POWERS FINANCING AUTHORITY
Approved above recommendation. Vote: 5-0.
MEETING DATE: January 23, 2024 PAGE 2
SUBJECT: NEW STATE REGULATIONS FOR ESTABLISHING SPEED LIMITS E&TS. An E&TS for a street must be updated periodically (every five, seven, or 14 years, depending upon specific criteria).
On September 9, 2021, Assembly Bill (AB) 43, titled "Traffic Safety", was passed by the State of California legislature, and subsequently approved by the Governor and filed with the Secretary of State on October 8, 2021. AB-43 modifies provisions of the CVC, which allow for more flexibility in establishing speed limits at certain locations.
Below are general highlights of the most significant changes resulting from new state speed limit legislation.
Exhibit 1 provides a detailed explanation of the changes that AB-43 makes to the CVC and CAMUTCD.
1. Allowing a further five mile-per-hour reduction in establishing speed limits on:
a. Streets designated as “Safety Corridors”. Only 20 percent of the total length of the roadway network of a city can be included in the Safety Corridors. In the determination of Safety Corridors, the highest number of serious injuries and fatalities is considered. b. Streets adjacent to any land or facility that generate high concentrations of bicyclists or pedestrians, especially those from vulnerable groups such as children, seniors, persons with disabilities, and the unhoused.
c. Agencies can make these speed reductions starting on June 30, 2024.
2. Agencies can implement speed limits of 20 mph or 15 mph based on an E&TS.
3. Agencies can implement speed limits of 20 mph or 25 mph in “Business Activity Districts.” A business activity district must meet certain conditions as detailed in Exhibit 1.
Staff is currently working with a professional consultant and the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) on developing a Citywide Safety Action Plan using state grant funding. Staff plans on reviewing speed limits on the City streets as an additional task for the consultant working on the Safety Action Plan.
The review will generate a proposed list of roadways that will be recommended for speed limit reductions based on the AB-43 guidance and presented to the City Council for approval in Fall 2024.
FISCAL IMPACT: The cost to add a task to the Citywide Safety Action Plan to evaluate the City’s speed limits relative to the new State regulation is approximately $50,000. Funding is available in the Fiscal Year 2023/24 Capital Improvement Budget for Capital Improvement Project (CIP) No. 8361 Neighborhood Traffic Calming (source appropriation account no. 0026555.578999.8361).
EXHIBITS:
1. Details of Proposed Changes to State Speed Limit Regulations 01/23/2024 D2 2 of 5
DETAILS OF PROPOSED CHANGES TO STATE SPEED LIMIT REGULATIONS A detailed summary of relevant changes to the CVC by AB-43 and their implications on setting speed limits is described below. The CAMUTCD has been updated based on changes made to the CVC.
CVC 627 Changes:
Language has been added to explain the pedestrian and bicyclist safety factor. The new language reads “Safety of bicyclists and pedestrians, with increased consideration for vulnerable pedestrian groups including children, seniors, persons with disabilities, users of personal assistive mobility devices, and the unhoused”.
CVC 21400 Changes:
A paragraph has been removed from this code that limited agencies from lowering speed limits based on results of E&TS. The removal allows agencies additional flexibility with rounding the results of an E&TS and setting speed limits. Details of how the new rounding of 85th percentile speeds will be determined as provided below in CVC Section 22358.
CVC 22358 Changes:
Changes were made to authorize local agencies to implement speed limits of 20 mph, or 15 mph based on an E&TS. This is in addition to allowing local agencies to establish speed limits ranging from 65 mph to 25 mph, which remains in this updated code section.
New CVC Code Sections:
-CVC 22358.6: This new code was added to direct the Department of Transportation to incorporate the changes made to the CVC into the CAMUTCD. This section also provides detailed instructions on how to round the measured 85th percentile speed in the process of establishing a speed limit.
-CVC 22358.7: This new code allows agencies to lower a speed limit, after rounding per above code section, by an additional 5 mph for either of the following reasons:
o A street that has been designated as a “safety corridor”. Safety Corridors can constitute up to 1/5 of a city’s roadway network. Please see subsequent sections below for more details on Safety Corridors in accordance with information provided in the CVC and CAMUTCD.
o A street that is adjacent to any land or facility that generates high concentrations of bicyclists or pedestrians, especially those from vulnerable groups such as children, seniors, persons with disabilities, and the unhoused. Please see subsequent sections below for more details on this category of streets in accordance with information provided in the CVC and CAMUTCD.
Code section 22358.6 above caps the total reduction in the speed limit at 12.4 mph from the 85th percentile speed. These speed reductions can be made starting on June 30, 2024. -CVC 22358.8: This new code section authorizes agencies to keep previous speed limits valid if new speed surveys show higher 85th percentile speeds. -CVC 22358.9: This new code authorizes agencies to implement 20 mph or 25 mph speed limits in “Business Activity Districts”. Please see subsequent sections below for more details 01/23/2024 D2 3 of 5
EXHIBIT 1
on Business Activity Districts in accordance with information provided in the CVC and CAMUTCD.
CVC 40802 Changes:
This code section has been modified to change the definition and criteria for “Speed Trap”. New definitions are added for “senior zone” and “business activity district” and they are exempt from the provisions of a “Speed Trap”. Also under the revised code, if no changes have been made to a roadway, a previous E&TS may remain valid for up to 14 years (compared to previous maximum 10 years).
SAFETY CORRIDORS
In accordance with State regulations, only 20 percent of the total length of the roadway network of a city can be included in the Safety Corridors. In determining Safety Corridors, the highest number of serious injuries and fatalities is considered. Other factors include:
1. Crash Wieghing Factors:
a. Crash severity: Fatal crashes and serious injury crashes. b. Mode: Pedestrian-bicycle related crashes, vehicle or other. c. Disadvantaged Community Status: Regionally or locally defined disadvantaged community status based on the most current version of CalEnviroScreen. d. Vulnerable Populations: Seniors (age 65 and older) and youth (under age 15) based on the American Community Survey.
e. School proximity (within 0.25 miles) based on the California School Campus Database.
2. Crash Density: Each roadway segment block can be converted into ~ 0.25-mile overlapping “corridor” segments to create a consistent unit of measurement and assess the concentration of linear patterns of injuries within a defined distance. The highest scoring (i.e. most fatal and serious injury crashes per mile) “corridor” segments within a street needs to be identified and an appropriate threshold set to determine safety corridor eligibility.
3. Maintenance: The jurisdiction can establish a review and re-evaluation frequency for safety corridors. However, such frequency need not exceed seven years.
ROADWAYS WITH A HIGH CONCENTRATION OF BICYCLISTS AND PEDESTRIANS In addition to the 20 percent safety corridors, a city can also reduce speeds in areas with a high concentration of pedestrians and cyclists. Per the CAMUTCD, the portion of a street where one or more of the generators listed below are present within a distance of 1,320 feet may qualify for lowering speed limits:
1. Employment centers, retail, parks, multi-use trails, and recreational destinations, schools/universities, senior centers, cultural areas, entertainment space areas, or areas of community significance, religious facilities, health/medical facilities.
2. Transit stops and / or Transit Oriented Developments / transit priority areas.
3. Sidewalk presence, crosswalk presence, bikeway presence, nearby signalized intersections on four-way intersections, presence of micro-mobility devices such as bicycles or scooters.
4. Demographic factors such as presence of vulnerable groups including children, seniors, persons with disabilities, users of personal assistive mobility devices, and the unhoused. 01/23/2024 D2 4 of 5
5. Disadvantaged community status.
6. Presence of students (all levels).
7. Other roadways identified by a city’s local traffic safety plan.
BUSINESS ACTIVITY DISTRICTS
A business activity district must meet all of the following conditions:
1. A maximum of four traffic lanes.
2. A maximum posted 30 mph prima facie speed limit immediately prior to and after the business activity district, if establishing a 25 mph speed limit.
3. A maximum posted 25 mph prima facie speed limit immediately prior to and after the business activity district, if establishing a 20 mph speed limit.
4. A “business activity district” is that portion of a highway and the property contiguous thereto that includes central or neighborhood downtowns, urban villages, or zoning designations that prioritize commercial land uses at the downtown or neighborhood scale and meets a least three of the following four requirements:
a. No less than 50 percent of the contiguous property fronting the highway consists of retail or dining commercial uses, including outdoor dining, that open directly onto sidewalks adjacent to the highway.
b. Parking, including parallel, diagonal, or perpendicular spaces located alongside the highway.
c. Traffic control signals or stop signs regulating traffic flow on the highway, located at intervals of no more than 600 feet.
d. Marked crosswalks not controlled by a traffic control device. 01/23/2024 D2 5 of 5