LEGISLATIVE ANALYST REPORT

TO: Honorable Members of the Board of Supervisors

FROM: Gabe Cabrera, Office of the Legislative Analyst (OLA)

DATE: December 17, 2004

RE: Local Control of Speed Limits on States Highways (File No. 041268)

Summary of Requested Action

Motion (sponsored by Supervisor Elsbernd) requesting the OLA to investigate to what extent California law allows localities to determine speed limits, construct bulb-outs, etc. on state highways. This motion also requests that the OLA compare California’s policies with those of Oregon, where, for example, localities are given the authority to set speed limits on state highways.

Further clarification with the Supervisor's aides indicated that the Supervisor wished to explore the feasibility of changing the speed limit on the section of State Highway 1 that passes through San Francisco (also known as 19^th Avenue).

Executive Summary

Findings

1. California law does not allow local governments to establish or change speed limits on state highways. These limits are set by statute or established and changed by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) on the basis of engineering and traffic surveys.
2. Engineering and traffic surveys are performed by Caltrans about once every 5 to 7 years, but a local government may ask for one at any time.
3. If Caltrans proposes, on the basis of an engineering and traffic survey, to change a speed limit, it must first consult with the California Highway Patrol (CHP) and a local government may conduct a public hearing on the proposed change. Caltrans must then consider the results of this hearing prior to determining the speed limit.
4. The last survey of 19^th Avenue was completed in 2001 and recommended that the existing 35-mph speed limit be retained. Caltrans advised us that a new survey is unlikely to justify a speed limit change because traffic conditions on 19^th Avenue have not changed substantially since the last survey.
5. Like California law, Oregon law does not allow local governments to establish or change speed limits on state highways. Limits are set by statute or established and changed by the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) on the basis of engineering and traffic investigations.
6. Local governments in Oregon may ask for an engineering and traffic investigation at any time.
7. Unlike California law, Oregon law requires that ODOT and a local government mutually agree to any proposed change to a speed limit on a state highway that passes through a local jurisdiction. If mutual agreement cannot be reached, the matter is referred to an independent review panel for a final decision.

Recommendations

• Ask Caltrans to construct bulbouts or other traffic calming measures on 19^th Avenue.

• Ask DPT, Public Works and other City departments to develop a street design plan for 19^th Avenue that involves the community, advocacy groups, Caltrans and other stakeholders, and that includes visual cues along the roadway to alert drivers to slow down and expect pedestrians, including but not limited to trees, planters, landscaping, ornamental lighting, flags, benches and other street furniture.

Background

Caltrans

Caltrans is responsible for the design, construction, maintenance and operation of the State Highway System. Caltrans has 12 District offices throughout the state, including one in Oakland, which serves Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma counties. This office is known as the District 4 office.

19^th Avenue Traffic Accident Data

Table 1 shows the total number of traffic accidents and related injuries and fatalities on 19^th Avenue for the 3-year period from January 2001 to December 2003. The data includes but does not isolate accidents that were vehicle/pedestrian related.

Table 2 compares traffic accident/injury/fatality data on all of 19^th Avenue and two sections of State Highway 101 that pass through San Francisco for the same 3-year period.

AB 2568

AB 2568, which the State Senate Committee on Public Safety failed to pass on June 29, 2004, would have designated 19^th Avenue between Junipero Serra Boulevard and Lake Street as a "Safety Enhancement Double Fine Zone" (DFZ) until January 1, 2006². The bill sponsor’s aides advised the OLA that AB 2568 was not moved out of committee largely because Caltrans previously concluded that "…the use of double fine zones reduced collisions somewhat but the reductions were not statistically significant."³  Notably, 13 of 14 other DFZs throughout the state expired on January 1, 2004 and have not been renewed by the Legislature.

Current Law and Practice

Speed Limits

There are two basic speed limits on California highways. Both are listed in the State Vehicle Code, Sections 22348–22366, as follows:

1. Basic speed law limit – Section 22350 states that no person shall drive a vehicle upon a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable or prudent having due regard for weather, visibility, the traffic on, and the surface and width of, the highway, and in no event at the speed which endangers the safety of persons or property.
2. Prima facie speed limits – These are set by statute or established by Caltrans in the Vehicle Code on the basis of engineering and traffic surveys. Section 22352 is a list of existing prima facie speed limits.

The basic speed limit law preempts the prima facie speed limits when the conditions in Section 22350 are met.

Minimal Local Control

California law does not allow local governments to establish or change speed limits on state highways. Only a Caltrans District Director, through the Caltrans Director, is authorized to do so on the basis of engineering and traffic surveys. These surveys are performed by Caltrans about once every 5 to 7 years, but local governments may ask for one at any time. If a District Director proposes, on the basis of an engineering and traffic survey, to change a speed limit, he/she must first consult with and consider the recommendations of the CHP and a local government may conduct a public hearing on the proposed change (Vehicle Code Section 22354.4). The District Director must then consider the results of this hearing prior to determining the speed limit.⁴

The State of Oregon

Speed Limits

There are three basic speed limits on Oregon highways. They are listed in the Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) 810.180 et seq. and 180.100 et seq., as follows:

• Designated speed – The maximum speed designated by the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) for a highway, which may be different from the statutory speed for the highway. (ORS 810.180)

• Statutory speed – The maximum speed set by statute under ORS 811.111 (for example, 15 mph when driving on an alley, 25 mph in a public park, etc.) or which is prima facie evidence of violation of the basic speed rule.

• Basic speed rule – A person commits the offense of violating the basic speed rule if the person drives a vehicle upon a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable or prudent, having due regard for traffic, the surface and width of the highway, hazards at intersections, weather, visibility and any other existing conditions. (ORS 811.100)

Designated speed overrides statutory speed, and the basic speed rule overrides both designated and statutory speeds.

More Local Participation

ODOT establishes a "designated speed" for a highway if an engineering and traffic investigation indicates that the "statutory speed" for the highway is greater or less than is reasonable or safe. A local authority may file a written application to the State Traffic Engineer for ODOT to conduct such an investigation. This application must state a recommended designated speed. ODOT either conducts the investigation itself or allows the local authority to do it. Whoever conducts the investigation, ODOT must allow the local authority to participate. If the investigation establishes that the existing speed is greater or less than reasonable or safe, ODOT proposes a change to the speed. The proposed speed must be mutually agreeable to ODOT and the local authority. If mutual agreement cannot be reached, the matter is referred to the Speed Zone Review Panel for a final decision.⁴

Other Traffic Calming Measures

Types of Traffic Calming Measures

The Federal Highway Administration recognizes four (4) major types of traffic calming measures:

1. Vertical deflections

• Speed humps – Rounded raised pavement devices placed across roadways to slow and/or discourage traffic
• Speed tables/raised intersections – Flat-topped speed humps often constructed with a brick or other textured material to slow traffic

• Traffic circles – Barriers placed in the middle of an intersection, directing all traffic in the same direction
• Chicanes/lateral shifts – Curb extensions that alternate from one side of the roadway to the other, forming s-shaped curves

• Bulbouts/neckdowns/chokers – Curb extensions at intersections that reduce curb-to-curb roadway travel lane widths
• Center islands – Raised islands located along the centerline of a roadway that narrow the width at that location

• Closures/cul-de-sacs - Barriers places across roadways to completely close through vehicle traffic

Traffic Calming Measures and 19^th Avenue

Caltrans points out that 19^th Avenue serves as a "major traffic artery" between the Peninsula Corridor and Marin County, averaging 65,000 to 95,000 vehicles per day, and as a matter of policy, it will not install speed humps (vertical deflections) on major traffic arteries. Nor will it convert 19^th Avenue from 4 to 3 lanes with a center turn lane (horizontal shifts) because left turns are already illegal on 19^th Avenue. Caltrans considered installing bulbouts (roadway narrowings), but eventually dropped the idea because bulbouts may reduce turning radii for large vehicles, especially Fire Department engines. Caltrans advised the Legislative Analyst that it is still open to the idea of bulbouts provided that they accommodate large vehicles and funding becomes available in the future.

In an effort to reduce red-light running and improve pedestrian safety, Caltrans plans to replace existing traffic light signals with mast-arm (overhead) signals and to install pedestrian countdown signals at 12 intersections along 19^th Avenue. Caltrans will begin construction on this project in June 2005, and plans to install similar mast-arm and countdown signals at 22 other intersections along 19^th Avenue when funding becomes available in the future.

The City has also taken steps to reduce red-light running and improve pedestrian safety. For instance, DPT (in collaboration with Caltrans and two private organizations) recently installed red-light cameras at 2 intersections on 19^th Avenue. DPT states that red-light cameras have reduced red-light running at other intersections in San Francisco. The City and Caltrans also plan to install speed radar signs at each end of 19^th Avenue that will inform drivers of their vehicle speeds and thus compel them to slow down. Because the San Francisco Police Department (not the CHP) is responsible for traffic enforcement on 19^th Avenue, the City may legally use this radar equipment.

Apart from the above-noted actions and plans, the Legislative Analyst believes that the City should ask DPT, DPW and other City departments to develop a street design plan for 19^th Avenue that involves the community, advocacy groups, Caltrans and other stakeholders and includes visual cues along the roadway to alert drivers to slow down and expect pedestrians. Visual cues are trees, planters, landscaping, ornamental lighting, flags, benches and other street furniture. Typically, visual cues are built in downtown areas where streets are narrow and lined with businesses, whereas the majority of 19^th Avenue is broad and bordered by residences. Therefore, if the City chooses to implement this strategy, it would have to adapt these cues to meet the special circumstances along 19^th Avenue.

Conclusion

In summary, neither California nor Oregon allows local governments to set or change speed limits on state highways. State transportation agencies are solely responsible for these tasks on the basis of engineering and traffic surveys. A new Caltrans survey of 19^th Avenue is unlikely to justify a speed limit change because traffic conditions on 19^th Avenue have not changed substantially since the last survey. From this perspective, the Legislative Analyst recommends the following options:

• Ask Caltrans to construct bulbouts or other traffic calming measures on 19^th Avenue.

• Ask DPT, Public Works and other City departments to develop a street design plan for 19^th Avenue that involves the community, advocacy groups, Caltrans and other stakeholders, and that includes visual cues along the roadway to alert drivers to slow down and expect pedestrians, including but not limited to trees, planters, landscaping, ornamental lighting, flags, benches and other street furniture.

Endnotes

^{1 Data provided by Caltrans District 4 Office.}

^{2 The purpose of the DFZ program is to improve traffic safety by doubling or otherwise enhancing fines for certain traffic violations if committed within a DFZ.}

^{3 Cited in the Assembly Floor Analysis Unit report to the Senate Committee on Public Safety, June 29, 2004.}

^{4 The Speed Zone Review Panel consists of representatives from the Oregon State Police, the Oregon Transportation Safety Committee, the League of Oregon Cities, the Association of Oregon Counties and ODOT.}