Title
Review and Provide Input on the Draft Citywide Speed Hump Policy (Discussion)
Body
To: Honorable Chair and Members of the Transportation Commission
From: Lisa Foster, Secretary to the Transportation Commission
Allen Tai, Planning, Building, and Transportation Director
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Staff is seeking feedback from the Transportation Commission on a draft Speed Hump Policy (Policy). The draft Policy (Exhibit 1) sets forth guidance for where and how speed humps may be installed on City streets. The objectives of the policy are to improve safety and reduce vehicle speeds; enhance livability of residential neighborhoods; provide transparent process for speed hump installation; prioritize implementation to ensure equity and effectiveness; leverage existing programs for implementation; and maintain effective emergency response times for public safety. After community feedback has been incorporated, the policy will be finalized at the staff level by the City Engineer.
BACKGROUND
Each year, the City of Alameda receives numerous inquiries and requests to address speeding and add traffic calming on neighborhood streets. While the City of Alameda General Plan and Street Classifications (2022) call for the use of traffic calming measures in neighborhood and school areas (ME-7), there is no policy or framework in place to prioritize locations for implementation. In the absence of such a policy framework, the City has generally not advanced traffic calming on streets classified as Neighborhood Local Streets (Exhibit 2) except in special cases and as part of larger planning efforts like the Neighborhood Greenways.
One effective form of neighborhood traffic calming is a speed hump. A speed hump is a raised pavement structure that forces motorists to slow down to a safe speed. Currently, there are only a few speed humps in Alameda, though some streets have speed cushions, which have cutouts for emergency vehicles to pass through. Speed cushions can be slig...
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