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2006-09-05
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2006-09-05
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City Council
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9/5/2006
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Minutes
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5 <br /> <br /> Dr. Brown said he would also be interested in looking at the net impact on trees of <br />the new development, and feels it would be useful to keep a scorecard. <br /> <br /> Mr. Norris noted that Westhaven is listed as a potential development site, and he <br />wanted to reassure residents of Westhaven that the Housing Authority is not considering <br />the sale of Westhaven to the University. <br /> <br /> Mr. Lynch agreed with Dr. Brown’s comments about infill in the floodplain and <br />the tree inventory. He said he thinks there is the potential to accommodate affordable <br />housing in the new developments. <br /> <br />REPORT <br />: REDUCTION OF SPEED LIMITS IN CITY OF CHARLOTTESVILLE <br /> <br /> Ms. Angela Tucker, Development Services Manager in the Department of <br />Neighborhood Development Services, explained that this report is being given in <br />response to a Council request that staff look at the implications of reducing all speed <br />limits in the City to 25 mph. <br /> <br /> Mr. Bill Wuensch, traffic consultant for the City, reviewed factors of speed <br />selection and functional classification of roads. He said the City has three classes of <br />roadways: arterials, collectors and local roads, and this mix of roadways is necessary to <br />allow for safe and efficient movement of people and goods, to prevent cut-through traffic <br />on residential streets, and to alleviate speeding on residential streets. He said there is a <br />national standard for setting speed limits, which includes conducting a speed study, and <br />some of the factors that contribute to the speed limit are current travel speed of most <br />drivers (85%), accident history, roadway geometrics, number of pedestrians using the <br />roadway, and adjacent roadside development. Mr. Wuensch said that common <br />misconceptions are: if you lower the speed limit, people will drive slower; people will <br />drive faster when the speed limit is raised; and lowering the speed limit will result in <br />fewer accidents and increase safety. Mr. Wuensch said there are three steps to stopping <br />speeding: education (least costly and most effective), enforcement (often needed to <br />change bad behavior) and engineering (last resort and most expensive). He said the <br />speed limits on the following City streets are lower than the natural free-flowing travel of <br />most drivers: Avon Street, Barracks Road, Elliott Avenue, Emmet Street, Jefferson Park <br />th <br />Avenue, Preston Avenue, 5 Street, S.W., and Route 250 Bypass. He presented data <br />showing the actual speed of drivers on these streets. In summary, Mr. Wuensch said the <br />City can do the following: address speed limits using accepted national standards; <br />conduct a public information and education campaign (for which funding is needed); <br />increase enforcement of existing speed limits (would require more police staff); develop <br />appropriate, location-specific neighborhood plans (using traffic control devices, traffic <br />calming techniques, and changes the speed limit only where necessary); and implement <br />plans and monitor and evaluate performance. <br /> <br /> Responding to a question from Mr. Lynch, Mr. Wuensch said that no formal <br />speed studies were done for this report, and it mainly focused on processes and <br />procedures. <br /> <br /> Ms. Tucker said that data is available for local residential streets, but for this <br />report those streets with speed limits over 25 mph were the focus. <br /> <br /> Dr. Browned asked if there is data available on Rugby Avenue where the speed <br />limit was reduced from 35 mph to 25 mph. He also asked if pedestrian activity comes <br />into the process of determining speed limits. <br /> <br /> Mr. Wench said pedestrian activity figures in the guidelines. <br /> <br /> Ms. Hamilton said she found the presentation interesting and informative. She <br />said the City has not yet done anything in the way of education, and she does not see that <br />imposing a blanket 25 mph speed limit will achieve what we want. She said she would <br />want us to consider more education instead. <br /> <br /> <br />
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