MEMORANDUM

To: City Council

From: David J. Deutsch, City Manager

Subject: Traffic Calming Update

Date: October 1, 2008

At your May 27th Work Session, you received a report regarding traffic calming options (Attachment A). A presentation was also provided by a representative of the Prince George’s County Fire Department. Since that time, we provided lane striping along Pin Oak Parkway in the Tall Oaks Subdivision as well as installing one of our new electronic traffic calming signs.

In addition, we held a Speed Awareness Day on September 17th on Pin Oak Parkway. The event appeared well received by the numerous residents in attendance. And we subsequently received positive feedback from the representative of the Tall Oaks HOA Board that they were pleased with the event and from the Tall Oaks management company that speeding on Pin Oak Parkway continues to be reduced. Based on the success of that event, a Speed Awareness Day is being proposed on Nashua Lane in the Northview Subdivision.

At this point, we can continue to provide lane striping and Speed Awareness Days in subdivisions where there is sufficient neighborhood support. This would be in addition to conventional police radar enforcement and traffic calming signs.

If we want to go beyond these options and install speed humps on City streets, the City Attorney indicated that, for liability reasons, we should first adopt a policy for their installation. Of all the policies that they had reviewed in the past, the Public Works Department indicates that the Prince George’s traffic calming policy (Attachment B) appeared to be the most workable and reasonable. It references a series of increasing traffic calming steps, including structural options, such as speed humps. In order to install speed humps, that policy includes minimum warrants for traffic speed, volume accidents. If those warrants are met, then there is also a requirement that 60% of the residents on the affected streets sign a petition in support. It also allows for speed humps to be installed if the warrants are not met. But the petition threshold is raised to 90%.

Note that, using the Prince George’s County warrants, Excalibur Road would be excluded from consideration of speed humps due to the higher classification of this roadway. Pin Oak Parkway did not meet the threshold for speed humps based on speed, volume and accidents, so significant neighbor-hood support would be required to install speed humps there.

With Council’s ongoing interest in this program, a Resolution (Attachment C) will be placed on your next Agenda for action. The Resolution will establish a traffic calming program in Bowie, which will include the option to install structural devices, such as speed humps. If this Resolution is adopted by Council, staff will proceed to meet with the Tall Oaks community to provide a presentation of the speed hump option, including the petition forms. If the community can muster the required petitions soon enough, Public Works is prepared to install speed humps this year, weather permitting.

DJD/JH

Attachments