Title
New Traffic Calming Tools in Oregon City
Body
RECOMMENDED ACTION (Motion):
Review and provide direction to staff on the proposed new traffic calming tools in Oregon City.
BACKGROUND:
Staff has been working on various new traffic calming tools over the past year. This includes a Neighborhood Fact Sheet and a new 20 MPH Speed Limit Policy.
Neighborhood Traffic Fact Sheet
In 2017, the Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) finalized the Neighborhood Traffic Fact Sheet, A guide of Neighborhood Traffic Management Information and Summary of Traffic Calming Devices. This was one of the 2017 Goals for the committee. The Fact Sheet was developed by the TAC in a volunteer effort to help outline the issues and policies regarding traffic management in Oregon City. Staff and neighborhood representatives could refer to this Fact Sheet when addressing neighborhood complaints about speeding. The guide discusses various types of traffic calming and the situations in which they are most applicable.
Staff will present the various mitigation measures available in the Neighborhood Fact Sheet. Each measure in the Neighborhood Fact Sheet includes information on Applicability (which streets it applies to), Complexity (level of effort to implement), Cost (minor expenditure versus a planned capital project), and Goal (to target speed and/or volume) of the traffic calming measure. The review also includes positive and negative aspects of the measure. This guide gives a quick snapshot of the traffic calming measures available, and when they would likely be used.
20 MPH Family Friendly Routes
Staff has reviewed Oregon Revised Statute (ORS) 810.180 which allows a road authority the ability to establish by ordinance a designated speed for a roadway that is five miles per hour lower than the statutory speed. The area must meet all of the following:
• Roadway must be located in a Residential Zoning
• Vehicle speeds of less than 30 mph, measured as 85th percentile speed
• Average volume of fewer than 2,000 vehicles per day
Under this change, the City would be allowed to lower the posted speed limit of roadways meeting these criteria through the adoption of an ordinance. To implement this consistently, staff has drafted a 20 mph speed limit policy. Staff recommends that the roadways considered for the 20 mph are Family Friendly Routes, as identified in the Transportation System Plan (TSP). The 2013 TSP identified 33 Family Friendly routes to fill gaps between shared-use paths, parks, and schools, offering a network of low-volume streets for more comfortable biking and walking throughout the City. The concept behind a Family Friendly Route is to provide low-speed, low traffic streets where pedestrians and bicyclists are prioritized over cut-through automotive traffic.
Staff has shared this with the Transportation Advisory Committee, and they made a motion to recommend that staff move forward with the implementation of the three corridors. Staff will present the details of the policy, results of recent corridor reviews, and recommendations on where 20 mph speeds limits could be implemented.
Formal adoption of a 20 mph speed posting must be approved by the City Commission by resolution and on a street by street basis.