TO: Mayor and City Council
THROUGH: Keith Stahley, City Manager
FROM: Brian D. Martin, PE, Public Works Director
SUBJECT:
title
Adoption of the 2023 Neighborhood Traffic Management Plan.
Ward(s): All Wards
Councilor(s): All Councilors
Neighborhood(s): All Neighborhoods
Result Area(s): Safe, Reliable, and Efficient Infrastructure
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SUMMARY:
summary
The Neighborhood Traffic Management Plan (NTMP) is designed to assist City staff and residents in addressing common traffic concerns in residential neighborhoods. The NTMP will tailor solutions to different traffic issues and provide an opportunity for residents to be involved in cataloguing and prioritizing locations for improvement.
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ISSUE:
Shall City Council adopt the Neighborhood Traffic Management Plan (NTMP) as the City’s primary tool for addressing neighborhood traffic concerns?
RECOMMENDATION:
recommendation
Adopt the NTMP as the City’s primary tool for addressing neighborhood traffic concerns.
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FACTS AND FINDINGS:
The NTMP is designed to address traffic-related concerns at the neighborhood level. It does this through two component plans:
Neighborhood Traffic Calming Plan
The Neighborhood Traffic Calming Plan (NTCP) implements policies from the Salem Transportation System Plan (TSP). It provides City residents with a process for addressing their concerns regarding speeding and high traffic volumes. The NTCP also provides the City’s Public Works Department staff with a consistent mechanism for evaluating the need for installing a traffic calming device in a neighborhood. The NTCP employs a two-phased approach to improving the neighborhood transportation system. The first phase requires residents to collect data to help define the problem. If the problem meets the NTCP eligibility criteria, the concern is elevated to City staff for further evaluation. Every potential project will then be prioritized based on a set of objective criteria. Those criteria are:
• Speed
• Volume
• Pedestrian Generators
• Presence of a Family-Friendly Bikeway
• Presence of Sidewalks
• Equity
The City’s ability to implement traffic calming measures will depend on the degree of neighborhood support and funding availability.
Neighborhood Stop Sign Plan
City staff receive a high number of requests every year from residents for the installation of stop signs in their neighborhood. Often, the requested intersections do not have traffic volumes high enough to meet standard stop sign evaluation criteria. However, the City acknowledges that there are situations where an intersection or neighborhood area would benefit from the installation of stop signs even if state or federal standard criteria are not met. The purpose of the Neighborhood Stop Sign Plan (NSSP) is to provide a consistent process and establish a set of guidelines for placing neighborhood stop signs. The guidelines are based on collected data, local knowledge, and traffic engineering principles.
Public Involvement
This plan was developed with input from the Citizens Advisory Traffic Commission (CATC) and neighborhood associations. CATC discussed aspects of the NTMP and provided guidance to staff at several meetings during 2022 and 2023.
Staff attended meetings of 14 neighborhood associations in the second half of 2022 and early 2023, as well as the quarterly meetings of the Neighborhood Association Chairs in September 2022 and January 2023. Input received helped staff identify priority locations to evaluate how the system would rank needs relative to each other.
Next Steps
Following Council adoption of the NTMP, staff will finalize an online tool for members of the public to submit requests. This tool will be modeled on the Safer Pedestrian Crossings Program <https://www.cityofsalem.net/government/shaping-salem-s-future/reports-studies/pedestrian-safety-study/safer-pedestrian-crossings-program>. The tool will help the City track needs and prioritize where to invest limited available funds. Once this tool is available, staff will reach out to the public with information on how to submit requests.
BACKGROUND:
The City originally adopted the NTMP in 1999, with revisions in 2006. In 2022, the City Council adopted two separate motions relating to neighborhood traffic management. These motions related to residential speed limits - 20 is Plenty - (February 14, 2022) and criteria for installing speed humps (March 14, 2022). These motions are addressed in this update to the NTMP, which replaces the previous NTMP.
Robert D. Chandler, PhD, PE
Assistant Public Works Director
Attachments:
1. City of Salem Neighborhood Traffic Management Plan