PRESENTER: Presenter
Carly Farmer, Engineer
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SUBJECT: Title
Discuss and consider a recommendation to City Council to implement a traffic calming plan on Caddell Lane.
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DEPARTMENT: Transportation and Capital Improvements
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COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: 5
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Staff has received a request to evaluate Caddell Lane for traffic calming. The request was due to safety concerns over speeding and cut-through traffic in a residential area. Caddell Lane is a local residential street that runs parallel to Alves Lane and intersects SH 46. Like many streets that connect to SH 46 east of IH 35, Caddell Lane is a cut-through route for drivers avoiding congestion and trying to find faster alternative routes in the areas around SH 46, Barbarosa Road, and Alves Lane. The posted speed limit on Caddell Lane is 20 mph. There are no sidewalks or curbs. Caddell Lane is very narrow, with a pavement width of approximately 24 feet, leaving little to no buffer between residents out walking and passing vehicles.
The City of New Braunfels Speed Hump Policy approved in 1999 requires a petition be submitted with signatures from two-thirds of the properties adjacent to the street segment on which speed humps are requested. A petition was received and was verified to meet the two-thirds requirement. An operational requirement in the policy is that the 85th percentile speed must be at least 5 miles per hour over the regulatory speed limit of 20 mph. Traffic data collected over 24 hours in May 2024 showed the 85th percentile speed of 27 mph which meets the speed criteria in the Speed Hump Policy. Additionally, the volume requirement in the approved speed hump policy is a daily traffic volume of at least 800 vehicles per day (vpd). The traffic data collected measured 697 vpd. Staff would not be able to recommend speed humps under the requirements of the Speed Hump Policy, but an 85th percentile speed of 7 mph over the posted speed limit on a narrow residential street without sidewalks is a safety concern. In addition, a comparison of the number of homes along the street and the daily traffic volume demonstrates high cut-through traffic.
The City of New Braunfels recently enacted the Street Safety Action Plan. This plan made recommendations for new policies, programs, and projects to achieve the goal of ending severe and fatal roadway crashes on the City of New Braunfels Roads. City staff recognizes that the current 1999 Speed Hump Policy being the lone traffic calming procedure is insufficient for evaluation of neighborhood traffic speeding concerns. Part of the Street Safety Action Plan is a recommendation to update the speed hump policy, default speed limits in residential areas, and additional traffic calming measures with objective evaluation criteria that city staff can implement when investigating speeding and safety concerns on residential streets. City staff is currently drafting a new Speed Management Policy to replace the 1999 Speed Hump Policy.
Due to the narrow pavement width of the street, traffic calming tools such as bulb-outs, neck downs, and pavement markings are not feasible. Based on the documented high speeds recorded on Caddell Lane, the lack of sidewalks or curbs, and known traffic issues along the SH 46 corridor, city staff drafted a traffic calming plan that consists solely of speed humps. City staff aims to present the traffic calming plan and give the community an opportunity to provide public comment. With no dedicated funding for traffic calming this fiscal year outside of the annual speed hump budget, the city cannot implement the plan until dedicated traffic calming funding is identified. However, the budget for the upcoming 2025 Fiscal Year may allocate funding specifically for traffic calming, allowing the city to move forward with installing any approved traffic calming plans.
ISSUE:
Residents have requested traffic calming be installed on Caddell Lane due to speeding and safety concerns about cut-through traffic in a residential area.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The City has specific funding for the installation of traffic calming. Installation of speed humps, including speed cushions, signing, and pavement markings at five locations and pavement markings cost approximately $40,000. There is insufficient funding in the FY 2024 Streets and Drainage budget. Staff is seeking additional funding for traffic calming plans in future budget cycles.
Recommendation
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends approval of the traffic calming plan on Caddell Lane, to be installed as funding is available.