LAKEPORT, Calif. – Speed limits could soon be changed in five areas in Lakeport based on an updated speed survey completed for the city earlier this year.
Community Development Director Kevin Ingram presented the study and a proposed ordinance to update the speed limits in certain areas to the Lakeport City Council at its Oct. 18 meeting, explaining that the survey must be completed every five years.
Consultant Phil Dow of Dow and Associates did the engineering and traffic study for the city in June and presented the proposed changes to the council. He's also done past studies for the city over his 40 years of doing such work.
His study is featured in the agenda packet below, starting on page 143, and the discussion starts at the 36:10 point in the video above.
Dow's study recommended that speed limits for the vast majority of the surveyed roadway segments in the city remain unchanged, except for Bevins Street from Lakeport Boulevard to Bevins Court; Hartley Street from 20th Street to the northern city limits; Martin Street from Bevins Street to the western city limits; Parallel Drive from old city limits (near Chester Avenue) to Lakeport Boulevard; 20th Street from Alden Avenue to Hartley Street.
“Usually when I do these there aren't that many changes as there are in this particular study,” said Dow, explaining that California Vehicle Code requires that such surveys be done every five years if a local government wants to enforce them by electronic means.
Dow said the troubling part of the work is that there have been changes made by the State Legislature in recent years to the way speed limits can be determined, which give less latitude for traffic engineers and others establishing or recommending speed limits.
“That's why there's some extra effort put into this one,” he said, explaining that he was trying to mitigate some higher speed zones in undesirable areas in the study.
Dow said that, basically, actually establishing speed limit zones is a democratic process which is controlled to a large degree by how fast the traveling public drives on streets.
“It's based largely on a sample of the existing speeds, the prevailing speeds in your city,” he said.
Those speeds are monitored by putting out traffic counters and reviewing collision date for an area, and determining if those crashes are related to traffic speeds. Dow said the work also involves looking at the roadways, including pavement conditions, the latter being “a subject of discourse locally.”
Whereas at one time lower speed limits could be set if jurisdictions could make a rational argument for doing so, now the process of setting speed limits is bound to considering the 85th percentile of prevailing speeds, Dow said.
He said the changes began in 2009, with the state cracking down on the process of setting speed limits because some entities were cheating and not putting up the proper speed limits.
Dow said the only latitude he now has in his recommendations is setting the speed limits at 5 miles per hour below the 85th percentile, which he has to justify in writing. “So it's a little more complicated than it was just a few years ago.”
He noted that areas that do not have speed limits zoned properly can result in speed tickets being thrown out in court.
“It's just unfortunate that we have to play the reactive game,” said Councilman Martin Scheel.
In the in-depth analysis offered in his written report, Dow explained that current speeds on Bevins Street from Lakeport Boulevard to Bevins Court would warrant raising the limit from 30 miles per hour to 40, but due to factors with the roadway and adjacent development, he said it is warranted to put the speed lower, at 35 miles per hour.
For Hartley Street from 20th Street to the northern city limits, which has steep curves, limited pedestrian improvements and has been identified as an access route in the Lake County Safe Routes to Schools Plan, Dow recommended keeping the existing speed of 30 miles per hour for the segment of Hartley between 20th Street and Hillcrest Drive.
He also suggested the completion of an engineering study to extend the school zone speed limit of 25 miles per hour for up to 1,000 feet south of the Lakeport Unified School District school grounds, and removal of some speed limit zone postings.
Based on critical speed monitoring, Martin Street from Bevins Street to the western city limits should have its speed limit raised from 35 to 45 miles per hour. However, Dow said lower speeds are justified due to driveway obstructions and west of Smith Street and further mitigations needed for the blind junction approach at Bevins Street.
He suggested a speed limit of 40 miles per hour on Martin Street from the west city limit to Smith Street, with a 30-mile-per-hour limit on Martin Street between Smith Street and Main Street, and brush clearing on the south side of Martin Street west of Smith Street to improve sight distance.
On Parallel Drive from the old city limits near Chester Avenue to Lakeport Boulevard, where the speed limit currently is 35 miles per hour, speed zone monitoring results suggest that, based on state rules, the speed should be raised to 50 miles per hour, Dow reported.
Dow instead suggested that conditions can warrant a slightly reduced new speed limit of 45 miles per hour, but that even then, “there are concerns regarding obstructions to sight distance, due to horizontal curves, that obstruct driveways in the area of abrupt roadside land use changes.”
Among his proposed changes are a roundabout advance warning sign, installation of a curve warning sign with a 35-mile-per-hour advisory and monitoring of travel speeds within one year to propose warranted adjustments.
On 20th Street from Alden Avenue to Hartley Street, where the speed currently is 25 miles per hour, the monitored speeds would suggest that the limit should be raised to 35 miles per hour. However, as Dow wrote in his report, “a 35 mph speed zone through a residential area is inconsistent with residential neighborhoods. Even a reduction to 30 mph is judged to be inappropriate for the narrower and curvey area near the western terminus of the street.”
He proposed in his report adjusting limits of the speed zones on the street and establishing the speed limit on 20th Street from Will-O-View Street to Hartley Street at 30 miles per hour.
During public comment, city residents brought up a host of concerns about other streets – including speed limits, school zones, and lack of sidewalks, crosswalks and shoulders – particularly on Lakeshore Boulevard and areas around the school district.
Carol Jardstrom raised issues about children walking along Lakeshore Boulevard to get to school and other pedestrians – including seniors – who walk in the area. She said there should be a sidewalk near a school bus stop on the road.
Dow said he could look at the concerns in relation to a school zone study he was to work on for the area.
Suzanne Lyons, a former city council member who lives on Lakeshore Boulevard, said she doesn't believe the crash data is accurate, as residents along that roadway are aware of collisions that occur that aren't in the records.
She said there are a lot of hit-and-run accidents involving mailboxes and cars going on to the beach. “They're not going a safe speed,” she said of some of the drivers who travel through the area.
Lyons said when she moved to her home, the speed limit sign said 25 miles per hour. Someone ran it over, and when the new sign was placed, the new limit was 30 miles per hour. She said no one should have to get killed before something is done.
Jeanette Payan, another resident of Lakeshore Boulevard, said she has made complaints about the lack of sidewalk and the speed limit issue there.
Payan recounted recent hit-and-runs on Lakeshore Boulevard that took out one neighbor's mailbox and the fence of still another neighbor.
“People drive dangerously fast on that road,” she said, adding that when she walks on the road, she fears for her life, as she has cars coming too close to her. “It's too much. It's too much. It's a serious issue.”
She asked them to look at adding sidewalks in the area to accommodate the heavy foot traffic, adding she wants to see the town be safer and better.
Michael Froio, who lives in the north end of Lakeport, added that he thinks the speed limit is too high along Lakeshore Boulevard, where people like to ride their bikes and walk, as there are only a few places where they can walk and see the lake.
Councilman Kenny Parlet said the number of unreported crashes is a real impediment to the process.
Scheel moved to introduce the proposed ordinance establishing the updated speed limits, with a public hearing to be set for Nov. 1, at which time the council will consider adopting the ordinance. The council approved the motion unanimously.
Also on Oct. 18, the council voted to accept a federal policing grant for the Lakeport Police Department ( http://bit.ly/2ejLp1u ); held a public hearing and approved proposed changes to the administrative citation appeal hearing process, including bringing the hearings in-house to reduce costs and simplify the process; approved refunding certain former redevelopment agency bonds and a proposed resolution of preliminary intention to proceed with the refinancing of outstanding Series 1993 Limited Obligation Improvement Bonds; reappointed Parlet to the Abandoned Vehicle Service Authority Commission; presented a proclamation designating October 2016 as Domestic Violence Awareness month to representatives from the Lake Family Resource Center; and heard a presentation from the Lake County Chamber of Commerce thanking the city for support of chamber events.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
101816 Lakeport City Council agenda packet by LakeCoNews on Scribd