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CC - ACTION ITEM: (1) Adoption of a Resolution Accepting the Results of the 2023 Engineering & Traffic Survey; and (2) Introduction of an Ordinance Amending Culver City Municipal Code Section 7.02.005 to Determine and Declare Updated Prima Facie Speed Limits on Certain City Streets
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Meeting Date: August 14, 2023
Contact Person/Dept: Thomas Check, Public Works/Mobility & Traffic Engineering
Phone Number: 310.253.5627
Fiscal Impact: Yes [X] No [] General Fund: Yes [X] No []
Attachments: Yes [X] No []
Public Notification: (E-Mail) Meetings and Agendas - City Council (08/09/2023)
Department Approval: Yanni Demitri, Public Works Director/City Engineer (8/2/2023)
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RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the City Council (1) adopt a Resolution accepting the results of the 2023 Engineering & Traffic Survey; and (2) introduce an ordinance amending Culver City Municipal Code (CCMC) section 7.02.005 to determine and declare updated prima facie speed limits on certain City streets.
BACKGROUND
Speed limits are set upon the basis of an Engineering and Traffic Survey (E&TS), which documents the speeds of free-flowing traffic on City streets, crash histories, traffic volumes, and other traffic and roadway data. The City conducted its last E&TS in 2013, which will expire on August 26, 2023. To ensure that speed limits continue to be enforceable by the Police Department via radar and lidar, the City Council must adopt an ordinance based upon a new E&TS, which was conducted earlier this year. Tonight, the City Council is also being asked to accept the results of that E&TS, via adoption of the proposed Resolution of the City of Culver City, California Accepting the August 14, 2023, Engineering and Traffic Survey, and Rescinding Resolution No. 2013-R060 (Attachment 2) The E&TS is Exhibit A to the proposed Resolution and is Attachment 3 to this staff report.
Council is also being asked to introduce an Ordinance (Attachment 4), amending Culver City Municipal Code (CCMC) section 7.02.005 to determine and declare updated prima facie speed limits on certain City streets.
DISCUSSION
The California Vehicle Code and the California Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices regulate how cities may set speed limits. Speed limits are based upon the results of an E&TS and are intended to establish the upper limit of what is considered reasonable and safe. The upper limit is normally selected near the 85th percentile of free-flowing traffic, or the speed at which 85% of drivers are traveling at or below. Statistically, the 85th percentile is approximately one standard deviation above the median (50th percentile) speed.
A speed limit set in the above manner is largely self-enforcing, allowing enforcement efforts to be concentrated on the minority of motorists traveling at speeds that pose a risk to public health and safety.
Speed measurements are only one factor evaluated when selecting an appropriate speed limit. Other factors, such as crash histories, hazards not readily apparent to motorists, adjacent land uses, and the safety of vulnerable road users, are also considered to determine the most appropriate speed limit to facilitate the safe and efficient movement of traffic. In some instances, a speed limit that is lower than the 85th percentile may be more appropriate. In these cases, greater attention should be given to physically altering the road (e.g., speed humps, restriping, roadway narrowing, etc.) to naturally drive motorist behavior to this lower speed. Otherwise, the speed limit may be perceived as artificially low, would create violators of otherwise reasonable and prudent drivers, will require constant enforcement to maintain, and generally would not command the respect of the public.
On October 8, 2021, Governor Newsom approved Assembly Bill (AB) 43, which took effect on January 1, 2022. AB 43 introduced additional methods by which cities may set their speed limits, including the following:
• The 85th percentile speed is normally rounded up or down to the nearest 5 mph increment to set the speed limit. In instances where the 85th percentile speed would require rounding up (e.g., 38 mph to 40 mph), it may instead be rounded down (e.g., 38 mph to 35 mph).
• Residential streets that meet certain criteria may now be classified as “local streets,” making them eligible for a 25 mph residential speed limit. Previously, a residential street could become ineligible for a 25 mph speed limit if Caltrans classified the street as non-local.
• A 5 mph speed limit reduction may be applied to streets designated as safety corridors and streets adjacent to land that generates high concentrations of bicyclists or pedestrians (these reductions may not be applied until June 30, 2024).
• Cities may adopt a 20 or 25 MPH speed limit on streets within a business activity district if specific criteria are met. Streets eligible for consideration must have no more than four traffic lanes and a maximum speed limit of 30 mph before and after the district, which must be justified by an engineering and traffic survey.
• If the 2023 E&TS would set a higher speed limit on a street, the City may make a finding that this speed limit is more than is reasonable or safe and instead elect to retain the existing speed limit or restore the immediately prior speed limit, provided that the existing/prior speed limit was established with an E&TS and no general purpose lanes have been added to the road.
The City’s 2023 Engineering & Traffic Survey included 62 street segments and revealed that motorists are overwhelmingly traveling at speeds consistent with posted limits. Additionally, all street segments experienced lower collision rates than statewide averages.
A summary of street segments where new or modified speed limits are recommended is provided in Attachment 1. Speed limits are recommended to be posted along four segments that currently do not have posted limits, and reductions are recommended on five segments. The posted speed limit is recommended to be corrected on one segment to make it consistent with the limit recommended in the 2003, 2013, and current E&TS. Retention of the existing speed limit is recommended on the remaining 52 segments surveyed.
In general, the 2023 E&TS will remain valid for seven years. The E&TS for individual street segments may be extended up to 14 years if a registered engineer determines no significant changes in roadway or traffic conditions have occurred on the street since the E&TS was conducted.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
Costs associated with installing, removing, and/or replacing speed limit signs, which are not anticipated to exceed $50,000, are included in the Adopted Budget for Fiscal Year 2023-2024 in Account No. 10160210.514100 (Public Works Streets - Departmental Special Supplies).
ATTACHMENTS
1. 2023-08-14 ATT-Table 1-Summary of Speed Limit Changes
2. 2023-08-14 ATT-Proposed Resolution Accepting 2023 E&TS
3. 2023-08-14-ATT-2023 E&TS (Exhibit A to Resolution)
4. 2023-08-14 ATT-Proposed Ordinance Amending CCMC 7.02.005
MOTION
That the City Council:
1. Adopt a Resolution accepting the results of the 2023 Engineering & Traffic Survey; and
2. Introduce an ordinance amending Culver City Municipal Code Section 7.02.005 to determine and declare update prima facie speed limits on certain City streets.