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10-22-15 Traffic Committee Agenda City of Shorewood Traffic Committee Meeting 5755 Country Club Road Thursday, October 22, 2015 Shorewood, MN 55331 5:30 PM PH: 952-960-7900 City Council Chambers TRAFFIC COMMITTEE MEETING THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2015 5:30 pm Shorewood Council Chambers Committee Members: Facilitator: _____ Susanne Aspley _____ Chris Gehrke _____ Chuck Rickart, WSB Engineer _____ David Cooley _____ Sandy Finke _____ Jeff Coplan _____ Ed Hasek City Staff: _____ Kathy Curry _____ Ken Huskins _____ Teresa Elsbernd _____ John Mohn _____ Larry Brown, Public Works Director _____ Bob Gagne _____ Angela Nelson _____ Paul Hornby, City Engineer _____ Brad Nielsen, Planning Director 1.First meeting of the Traffic Committee – Introductions 2.Purpose of the Traffic Committee 3.Guidelines and Standards 4.Issues/Concerns Prioritization 5.Future Meeting Schedule 6.Adjourn A majority of City Council members may be present at this meeting AIL WSB cv, Inc, Infrastructure a Engineering m Planning a Construction Tel: 763-641-4800 Fax: 763-641-1700 Memorandum To: Larry Brown Public Works Director 5755 Country Club Road Shorewood, MN 55331 From: Sean Delmore, PE, PTOE Date: June 18,2015 Re: Speed Limit Policy for the Qv ofShorewood This policy was created to define the process used to set speed limits along local streets in the City of Shorewood, MN. "he City of Shorewood will address speed limit related concerns based upon guidelines from Minnesota Statutes, MnDOT policies, the MOTCD and engineering judgement. The city will be proactively reviewing existing speed limit signing within the city limits to ensure that they are correctly posted. Speed limits that are not supported by Minnesota State Statutes, Council approval, or MnDOT Commissioner's Order will be planned for 2014 Minnesota Statues: 169.011 DEFINITIONS Subdivision 64. Residential Romhvqy A "residential roadway" is a city street or town road whose length is up to a half-mile. A& WSB Associate'. 111(% Infrastructure n Engineering w Planning a Construction 701 Xenia Avenue South Suite 300 Minneapolis, MN 55416 Tel: 763-541-4800 Fax: 763-541-1700 169J4 SPEED LIMITS, ZONES; RADAR. Subdivision 1. Duty to drive with due care. No person shall drive a vehicle on a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent under the conditions. Every driver is responsible for becoming and remaining aware of the actual and potential hazards then existing on the highway and rnUSt use due care in operating a vehicle. In every event speed shall be so restricted as may be necessary to avoid colliding with any person, vehicle or other conveyance on or entering the highway in compliance with legal requirernents and the duty of all persons to use due care. Subdivision 2. Speed limits. (a) Where no special hazard exists the following speeds shall be lawful, but any speeds in excess of such limits shall be prima facie evidence that the speed is not reasonable or prudent and that it is unlawful; except that the speed limit within any municipality shall be a maximum limit and any speed in excess thereof shall be unlawful: (1) 30 miles per hour in an urban district, (Subdivisions 2.2-2.6 do not apply here, therefore were excluded) (7) 25 miles per hour in residential roadways if adopted by the road authority having jurisdiction over the residential roadway; and (8) 3 ?5 ral I es per hour in a rural residential district if adopted by the road. authority having jurisdiction over the rural residential, district, (b) A speed limit adopted under paragraph (a), clause (7), is not effective unless the road authority has erected. signs designating the speed, limit and indicating the beginning and end of the residential roadway- on which the speed limit applies. (c) A speed limit adopted under paragraph (a), clause (8), is not effective unless the road authority tias erected signs designating the speed. limit and indicating the beginning and end of the rural residential district for the roadway on which the speed lima t a1­_)pli es. MnDOT UT I: 2}3.13 Speed LimitSign A Standard: Speed zones (other than statutory speed limits) shall only be established on the basis of an engineering study that has been performed in accordance with traffic engineering practices. The engineering study shall include an analysis of the current speed distribution of free-flowing vehicles. 2 AL WSB Infrastructure rm Engineering m Planning a Construction 701 Xenia Avenue South Suite 300 Minneapolis, MN W16 Tel: 763-541-4800 Fax: 763-5414700 The speed limit (R2-1) sign shall display the limit established by law, ordinance, regulation, or as adopted by the authorized agency based on the engineering study. The speed limits displayed shall be in multiples of 5 mph, Speed Limit signs, indicating speed limits for which posting is required by law, shall be located at the points of change from one speed limit to another, An Option: Other factors that may be considered when establishing speed limits are the following: 0 Road characteristics, shoulder condition, grade, alignment, and sight distance • The pace speed • Roadside development (nearby school) and environment • Parking practices and pedestrian activity (mainly children) • Reported crash experience for at least a 12-month period Methods and Practice A SafebLEE2grarer Most engineering approaches to speed limit setting are based on the 85th percentile speed-----the speed at which 85 percent of free-flowing traffic is traveling at or below. The typical procedure is to set the speed limit at or near the 85th percentile speed of free-flow traffic. Adjustments to either increase or decrease the speed limits may be made depending on infrastructure and traffic conditions. Under the operating speed method of setting speed limits, the first approximation of the speed limit is to set the speed limit at the 85th percentile speed. The MUTCD recommends that the speed limit be within 5 mph of the 85th percentile speed of free-flowing traffic, The posted speed limit shall be in multiples of 5 mph. 3 Ak WSB AO�Ilillllli` Infrastructure a Engineering a Planning o Construction S Asv)Oafes, 701 Xenia Avenue South Suite 300 Minneapolis, MN 65416 Tok 763-541-4800 Fax: 763-541-1700 pressures. However, it is important to note that setting speed limits lower than 85th percentile speed does not encourage compliance with the posted speed limit. implementation The City of Shorewood has established this policy to define the process for setting a speed limit and to what extent they can be modified. To make a request for a speed limit change, one must send a formal written document to the city. The local road authority can either determine the speed limit acceptable, not acceptable, or perform a speed study or engineering investigation. Streets that drive relatively similar should be set to the same speed Iii-nit for consistency, whether they are 25, 30, 35, or 40 mph. Speed limit evaluations should only take place when specific concerns are raised, and not on a regular basis. When final decisions are made they are not to be requested upon again unless a situation occurs (i.e., a large development is being constructed, or multiple accident occurs). If further monitoring needs to occur on a street, driver feedback signs or physical changes may be considered. The flowchart below shows a simple example of how this process goes: Shorewood's Contact Information: Larry BrownPublic Works Director City of Shorewood 5755 County Club Rd Shorewood, MN 55331 4 From: Date: The purpose of this memorandum is to provide a process to evaluate citizen requests related tospeed concerns on City roadways. The primary goal iaLo have set guidelines and procedures in place to address these concerns, The City of Shorewood believes it is important to process requests in a timely manner. Therefore, the City's program has been streamlined to effectively and efficiently utilize the City's resources The first step in initiating the process isaspeed concern received by City staff from a citizen. City staffs current practice is to deal with the request on a direct basis and to respond to the citizen within a short time period. With all speed concerns, the Police department will be notified by City staff and asked to provide additional speed enforcement. 2. ROADWAY ELIGIBILITY In order for a roadway to be eligible for traffic calming, it needs to meet the following criteria. 0 Classified as a local or collector • Length greater than 1/]OOfeet • Traffic volumes greater than 1,5UO vehicles per day • Posted speed of3O mph nrless • Cannot beacu|-de-sac collected by a speed awareness display (SAD) or road tubes, In analyzing the speed data, the 85 th percentile speed of the collected data will be calculated. The 85th percentile speed is defined as t speed at or below which 85 percent of the traffic is moving. I I Please be aware that during the winter months, it may be difficult to collect data that is representative of typical travel conditions. Request received during the winter months will beprocessed by May s1st. Federal and State speed limit guidelines define the 85th percentile speed as a "reasonable speed" mthe speed in which 85% oi motorists travel atorbelow, Experience has shown that the 85th Percentile Speed most closely provides for a safe and reasonable speed limit. 'Therefore, it can be expected that on a typical roadway, approximately 15 to 20 percent of the vehicles may he traveling atspeeds greater than the posted speed limit. St. Clood" Minneapolis - St. Paul Equal Opportumly Employer f the 85'h percentile speed is greater than 33 mph on a roadway posted at 30 mph, a speed concern will be identified at that location, If the 85 1h Percentile speed is greater than 33 mph but less than 35 mph, the speed concern will be brought before the City Council to consider the feasibility of low cost measures as a means to calm traffic. Some low cost traffic calming measures include: • Education and enforcement • Lane narrowing (striping or tubular marker island) • Pavement messages (38 MPH, SLOW, etc.) • Additiooa|signage If the 85 th Percentile speed is greater than 35 mph, the speed concern will be brought before the City Council to consider potential engineering solutions as a means to calm traffic. These solutions are typically higher in cost. Examples of possible solutions include: * Lane narrowing o Raised concrete mr landscaped |s|and/median * Curb extensions o Mid-block ohookeo (concrete urplanters) o Neckdowna(8ump-uutso1intersections) o Chicanes Upon the recommendation of City staff and approval by the City Council, the appropriate measures will be implemented by the City once funding is secured. Possible funding sources include: • Inclusion in the City's Capital Improvement Plan (]P) • Special request from the City Council • Assessment process If the objectives are satisfied as evidenced in the evaluation, no further actions will be taken. If objectives are not met, City staff may prepare alternatives and seek further direction from the City Speed Concern Evaluation Process 2 |Page Speed Concern Received Council toconsider 85m Council toconsider NO low cost traffic Percentile potenda!engineering calming measures Speed >35 :>4 solutions mph Feasibility, Funding, and Installation Speed Concern Evaluation P/ocea.5 3 |Poge 'T Posted Speed 20mph 25mph Roadway 730mph No further action Eligible for Low Cost >23mph >28mph >33mph Traffic Improvements Calming Solutions YES Staff Evaluation (Data collection and evaluation) Additional Speed Enforcement 85 th WNOPerceSntile if perceived speed concern Review Period is still present Speed >33 (No further action by City Council) mph mp Council toconsider 85m Council toconsider NO low cost traffic Percentile potenda!engineering calming measures Speed >35 :>4 solutions mph Feasibility, Funding, and Installation Speed Concern Evaluation P/ocea.5 3 |Poge Minnetonka. County Club Area Traffic Volume History Roadway 2441 2005 2009 2013 Smithtown Road 51.50 4150 4300 4600 County Club Road 5100 3450 3350 3450 Yellowstone Trial 4550 3700 3700 3800 Lake Linden Drive 4700 3900 4100 4500 Source: MnDOT Traffic Volume Maps zm� For identified issues there are several low cost, low impact improvement opportunities that can be implemented depending on further analysis of the conditions and data. Discussed below are some of the possible improvement opportunities and the proposed criteria for implementations, Safety improvements include items that could provide potential benefits by reducing the number of crashes. These improvements would include: 2. Advance warning signs - Advance warning signs could include "Stop Ahead", "Intersection Ahead", etc. These signs would be installed where intersection control is typically in place and/or crashes indicate that sight lines to the intersection may be an issue. 3. "Blinker" signs - Blinker signs are typically used with limited sight distance and higher traffic volumes. They can be used on either warning signs (advanced signs) or regulatory signs (stop or yield signs), 4. Pavement markings - This could include either center line or edge line mar-kings. They would typically be used where crashes indicate issues with vehicles staying in their own lane. 5. Lighting - Intersection lighting could be used to clearly locate an intersection at night. Typically lighting could be installed where there are a significant number of crashes occurring at night. 6. Yield signs - Yield signs are typically used in locations where there is confusion on which vehicle approaching the , intersection has the right of way. These signs can be used to help clearly assign the right-of-way at an intersection with a balanced traffic flow on all approaches, 7® Stop signs - The Minnesota Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices outlines warrants for the installation of stop signs. These warrants include criteria for installation of both all-way or 2- way stops. In addition stop signs could be considered where sight distance cannot be improved. Speed improvements include items that would provide potential benefits by reducing speeding in the neighborhood. These improvements would include: 1. Additional enforcement - Based on the traffic speed data collected if the 85% speed is between 30 mph and 33 mph, consideration should be given to requesting additional police enforcement, 3. Driver fee d-back (dynamic) speed signs - Driver feed-back signs are signs that display the actual speed of a vehicle as it drives by the location. On neighborhood streets where the 85% speed is determined to be greater than 33 mph, a driver feed-back sign could be used to warn the drive that they are speeding.