The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutSanta Clara County Sheriff (14)RESOLUTION NO. A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF LOS ALTOS HILLS ESTABLISHING POSTED SPEED LIMITS ON CERTAIN STREETS AND ESTABLISHING CERTAIN STREETS AS LOCAL RESIDENTIAL STREETS WITH A PRIMA FACIE SPEED LIMIT OF 25 MPH WHEREAS, the Town of Los Altos Hills is required every five years to update its radar survey in order to comply with the California Vehicle Code requirements for the use of radar on Town streets for the purpose of speed limit enforcement; and WHEREAS, the Town contracted with Brian Kangas Foulk for traffic engineering services to perform the radar survey and engineering and traffic investigation as required by the California Vehicle Code; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the Town of Los Altos Hills that based on the results of the radar survey and traffic and engineering investigation: 1. The following speeds have been found to facilitate the orderly movement of vehicular traffic and would be reasonable and safe and so should be established as the posted speed limits on the following streets: Name of Street or Portion Affected Altamont Road Page Mill Road to Taaffe Road Altamont Road Taaffe Road to Moody Road Arastradero Road Burke Road Chapin Road Concepcion Road El Monte Road, eastbound El Monte Road, westbound Fremont Road, eastbound Fremont Road, westbound La Paloma Road Magdalena Avenue Declared Prima Facie Speed Limit (Miles Per Hour) 30 W 35 30 30 30 40 30 35 35 30 35 Manuella Road 30 Page Mill Road, lower 35 1-280 to Arastradero Road(west) 25 Page Mill Road, middle 30 Arastradero Road (west) to Paseo Del Roble 25 Page Mill Road, mid-upper 30 Paseo Del Roble to Via Ventana Page Mill Road, upper 25 Via Ventana to Altamont Road Purissima Road, northbound 35 Elena Road to Arastradero Road Purissima Road, southbound 35 Elena Road to Roble Ladera Road Purissima Road, southbound 35 Roble Ladera Road to Robleda Road Robleda Road 30 Stonebrook Drive 25 2. The following streets be declared as local residential streets, as defined by the California Vehicle Code, with a prima facie speed limit of 25 miles per hour: Name of Street Declared Prima Facie Speed Limit (Miles Per Hour) Elena Road 25 Hilltop Drive 25 La Cresta Drive 25 Miranda Road 25 Moody Road 25 Natoma Road 25 PASSED AND ADOPTED this 19 d ri 1 ®.1995. Mayor ATTEST: City Clerk TOWN OF LOS ALTOS HILLS April 19,1995 Staff Report to the City Council RE: ACCEPTANCE OF RADAR SURVEY AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SPEED LIMITS ON CERTAIN STREETS FROM: Sheryl Kolf, Assistant RECOMMENDATION: That the City Council: Adopt the attached resolution amending the posted speed limits and establishing prima facie speed limits on certain streets. DISCUSSION: Every 5 years the Town is required to update its radar survey in order to comply with laws allowing the use of radar on Town streets for the purpose of speed limit enforcement. The last survey was completed and accepted by the City Council in 1990. The ability to use radar for enforcement of speed limits in the Town requires that the posted speed limits must either be at the 85th percentile speed, or the streets must meet the requirements in the California Vehicle Code for designation as local residential roads. In the past the state has also allowedexisting unusual circumstances to warrant lower posted speeds. In 1992, the state of California Appellate Court (People v. Goulet (1992)) ruled that if a local jurisdiction wants to establish a speed limit significantly lower than the 85th percentile, the survey "must contain sufficient information to document other conditions not readily apparent to a motorist." The Appellate Court indicated that it is questionable whether "a condition not apparent to drivers can justify a 10 miles per hour speed reduction unless the accident rate is greater than would be statistically expected from the traffic volume and road type. If there is not a significant number of speed related accidents, it is difficult to justify a reduced speed. The other option that a municipality has is to enforce speed limits by law enforcement officers pacing cars instead of using radar enforcement. This prevents the creation of speed traps as defined by the California Vehicle Code. Attached is a report prepared by Ray Davis, the Director of Traffic Engineering with Brian Kangas Foulk, which summarizes the requirements of the California Vehicle Code and the results of the radar survey conducted in March 1995. The traffic engineer's recommendations for the posted speed limits include input from both the Town's Engineering Department and Paul Jones of the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department. The Town's Safety Committee had also requested the study of specific roads in the Town that they consider to be potentially dangerous due to excessive speeds or other hazardous action. Staff Report to the City Council Radar Survey 1995 April 19, 1995 Page 2 Once the final list of streets to be enforced by radar is adopted, the entire radar survey and the accompanying resolution will be presented to the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department, as well as to the judges in the local traffic courts. Both of these groups will then be able to enforce the speed laws of the Town. Staff is available to answer any questions of the Council or citizens. Attachments: Resolution Radar Survey and Report from BKF Brian Engineers • Surveyors e Planners April 13, 1995 Sheryl Kolf Assistant Engineer 26379 Fremont Road Los Altos Hills, Ca 94022 Dear Sheryl: This is to provide you with a copy of the final Engineering and Traffic Surveys that were conducted for various roadways throughout the Town of Los Altos Hills. Per our discussion, we have identified the streets with their respective recommended posted speed limit. We have identified a number of streets that should be designated a local residential streets in order to maintain the desired posted speed limit of 25 mph. In addition, we have provided Engineering and Traffic Surveys for several streets that were requested by the Town's Safety Committee. Once the Town Council has taken action of the recommendations, we will modify the surveys accordingly and provide you with revised copies. Please feel free to telephone if you have any questions or if we can be of any further assistance Sincerely, Raym nd E. Davis III, P.E. Director of Transportation Engineering 540 Price Avenue • Redwood City, CA 94063 • (415)365-0412 ® FAX(415)365-1260 INTRODUCTION The State of California Vehicle Code (CVC 40802) reads that a speed trap is any section of roadway with a prima facie speed limit that "is not justified by an engineering and traffic survey conducted within five years prior to the date of the alleged violation, and where enforcement involves the use of radar or other electronic devices which measure the speed of moving objects". This does not apply to local streets and roadways as defined by the Vehicle Code. The Vehicle Code indicates that a local street and roadway are defined by the latest functional usage and federal -aid systems map as submitted to the Federal Highway Administration. When these maps have not been submitted the following definition for a local street or roadway is used: "A local street or roadway provides access to abutting residential property and shall meet the following three conditions: 1) Roadway width of not more than 40 feet. 2) Not more than one-half mile of uninterrupted length. Interruptions shall include official traffic control devices as defined in Section 445. 3) Not more than one traffic lane in each direction. The Vehicle Code defines a residence district (CVC 515) as "that portion of a highway and the property contiguous thereto, other than a business district, (a) upon one side of which highway, within a quarter of a mile, the contiguous property fronting thereon is occupied by 13 or more separate dwelling houses or business structures, or (b) upon both sides of which highway, collectively, within a distance of a quarter of a mile, the contiguous property fronting thereon is occupied by 16 or more separate dwelling houses or business structures. A residence district may be longer than one-quarter mile if the above ratio of separate dwelling houses or business structures to the length of the highway exists." An engineering and traffic survey is defined (CVC 627) as " (a) a survey of highway and traffic conditions in accordance with methods determined by the Department of Transportation (Caltrans) for use by the State and local authorities; and (b) shall include, among other requirements deemed necessary by the department, consideration of all of the following: (1) Prevailing speeds as determined by traffic engineering measurements; (2) accident records; (3) highway, traffic and roadside conditions not readily apparent to the driver. The Caltrans Traffic Manual reads "Experience has shown that speed limits should be established at or below the 85 percentile, which is the speed at or below 85 percent of traffic is moving"... "The speed chosen for speed zoning should be in 5 mile per our increments and should normally be selected at a value immediately below the 85 percentile speed". In addition, the Traffic manual recommends that short speed zones of less than half a mile should be avoided, speed zones changes should be coordinated with changes in roadway conditions or roadway development, and speed zoning should be coordinated between adjacent jurisdictions. The State of California Appellate Court (People v. Goulet (1992)) has ruled that if a local jurisdiction wants to establish a speed limit significantly lower than the 85th percentile, the survey "must contain sufficient information to document other conditions nor readily apparent to a motorist." The Appellate Court indicated that it is questionable whether "a condition not apparent to drivers can justify a 10 miles per hour speed reduction unless the accident rate is greater than would be expected statistically expected from the traffic volume and road type." If there are no speed related accidents it is difficult to justify a reduced speed. The recommended speed limits have been established in conformance with the Vehicle Code and the Caltrans Traffic Manual for a majority of the identified roadways in the Town. There are some locations where the consultant after meeting with City staff has recommended a posted speed limit that may not hold up to close scrutiny of the judicial system. There are locations where the roadways are recommended to be removed from the Town's Circulation Element and designate the roadways as local residential roadways as defined in the Vehicle Code. The Town will then have the option of posting the prima facie speed limit of 25 mph. The following roadways have been identified as eligible roadways to be designated as a local residential roadway: The Engineering and Traffic Surveys are located in the Appendix A of this report. The Town's Safety Committee had requested that a number of streets be surveyed to determine the prevailing speeds of motor vehicular traffic. The following streets have had Engineering and Traffic Surveys and are listed in Appendix B: M IM IMIMIMIMIvIMILo MIMINILo MIMIin MIMIMINIV IM IM IMIin NI,�. NINININININ ��m �=M 000000 0000C- oo tiu><ocD�n.- or oro�rvr 0 M co co eY cov 'd' N M ' M d' M co M co M M N C, AINI`.11MICIMINOIMIM �I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I IIIA'= C." y• F o ¢ a. LIJ tz aqc aFiceaOp 0¢ p f�oio2 t�nUZ Ed ni¢tnil°Ooa� cgiri� p ww 0 0 L) o 2CL uUn¢w 00 zcQiL)8dwuuwa- fl Lu W m co ----