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 Howard Street.
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DEPARTMENT: Transportation and Capital Improvements
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COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: 3
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Staff has received a request to evaluate Howard Street for traffic calming. Howard Street is a local residential street in the Parkview Estates subdivision connecting Walnut Avenue and Fredericksburg Road. It is a popular cut-through route for drivers avoiding the traffic signal at the intersection of Walnut Avenue and Landa Street. The posted speed limit on Howard Street is 30 mph, and nearly the entire length is within the 20 mph school zone for Seele Elementary. The request for traffic calming was due to safety concerns over speeding and cut-through traffic in a residential area with a school and parks.
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 30 mph. Traffic data collected over 24 hours in May 2024 showed the 85th percentile speed of 24 mph which does not meet 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 2,250 vpd. Staff would not be able to recommend speed humps under the requirements of the Speed Hump Policy, but the high volume surpasses the 1,000 vpd maximum design volume for a local residential street due to the high cut-through traffic coming from Walnut Avenue and Landa Street. Because the majority of the street is within a school zone, it is difficult to evaluate speeding concerns solely using the 85th percentile speed. Although the 85th percentile speed is well below the posted speed limit of 30 mph (outside the active school zone time), Howard Street is fronted by single family homes, an elementary school, and baseball fields, and is adjacent to Landa Park. These uses are all high pedestrian and vehicle generators, which paired with the high cut-through traffic and inconsistent sidewalks, results in higher instances of conflict between road users and increased vulnerability for pedestrians and cyclists on and adjacent to the roadway. Slower speeds and increased visibility of crossing areas will result in better outcomes should a crash occur.
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.
Based on the documented high cut-through traffic volumes and the high pedestrian activity associated with the homes, school, baseball fields, and Landa Park, city staff drafted a traffic calming plan for Howard Street that includes methods such as speed humps, but also incorporates pavement markings to create bulb-outs at intersections, narrow travel lanes, and delineate on-street parking. 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.
Because of the subdivision layout in Parkview Estates, other streets in the neighborhood may also be experiencing impacts from cut-through traffic, and these impacts may change with the implementation of the traffic calming plan on Howard Street. City staff is already evaluating current conditions on Wood Road, a parallel cut-through street, and working with the residents on submitting a petition to apply for traffic calming.
ISSUE:
Residents have requested traffic calming be installed on Howard Street due to speeding and safety concerns about cut-through traffic in a residential and school 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 two locations and pavement markings cost approximately $30,000. 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 Howard Street, which will be installed as funding is available.