Proposals to raise speed limits on several streets in San Mateo as part of a larger strategy to improve enforcement have been rebuffed by the City Council, with concerns about safety cited.
The city considered increasing the speed limit on West Hillsdale Boulevard between 31st Avenue and Alameda de las Pulgas from 25 to 30 mph, Norfolk Street between Kehoe Avenue and Roberta Drive from 25 to 30, East Poplar Avenue between North Delaware Street and North Amphlett Boulevard from 25 to 30, and J. Hart Clinton Drive between Ryder Park and Detroit Drive in both directions from 45 to 50.
City staff brought the proposal forward at a Jan. 17 council study session meeting. A city staff report noted while increasing speeds seems counter to the road safety strategy, the increase allows the police department more enforcement tools like radar to reduce speed, therefore potentially reducing traffic collisions. According to the report, police officers are not allowed to use radar to measure vehicle speeds if the engineering and traffic survey has expired under California law, which occurred for these streets. Updating the speeds and survey would allow the city to use radar to measure speeds and enforce limits. The city said the engineering and traffic survey findings require that speeds increase on the five streets.
State law requires that the posted speed limit be at the nearest 5 mph to the prevailing speed, meaning how fast 85% of drivers on a particular street typically travel. Of the stretches discussed in San Mateo, the prevailing speed was higher than the posted speed limit. Lowering it 5 mph was still higher than the posted speed limit. Raising it would allow for enforcement, according to staff.
At its Jan. 17 study session meeting, the council declined to move forward with the strategy. It cited safety, wanting to protect nearby schools and wanting to focus on more traffic calming options.
“I’m really having a hard time getting behind the idea of raising speed limits so we can do better enforcement,” Councilmember Robert Newsom said.
“I just can’t vote to raise the speed limits, I’m sorry,” Councilmember Rich Hedges said.
Staff said if the city changes speed limits, those speeds are the lowest it can recommend given the current state methodology and average road speed. However, a staff report said new changes could occur in 2024 based on new state law. City officials wanted to get the priority locations in compliance and then review them and the rest of the city streets at a later date, with plans to lower them in the future. Staff recommended introducing an ordinance to the City Council in February 2023 as an immediate-term strategy to reduce collisions through speed enforcement.
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“I am concerned about the possibility that if we increase the speed limits at these locations, without traffic calming being part of the overall plan this year, we may have difficulty getting ourselves back to where we want to be,” Councilmember Adam Loraine said.
Public speakers at the meeting were against the rise in speed limits because of their proximity to various high schools. Several speakers, like Ron Snow, talked about the increase in the danger for pedestrians and bicyclists with faster speed limits.
“An increase of 5 mph greatly increases the seriousness of an injury,” Snow said.
Heather Wolnick, a Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition organizer, said she wanted San Mateo to focus more on safety initiatives rather than arbitrary speed limits.
“People will feel that it’s safe to go faster because a lot of people view speed limits that way, that it’s the safe speed rather than just the speed everyone else is going,” Wolnick said.
The city, in December 2021, adopted school-zone speed limits for all schools establishing 15 mph limits within 500 feet of schools and 25 mph from 500 to 1,000 feet of schools.
Glad to see this covered! I hope the city revisits the design of the street near these schools to change driver behavior--I don't expect the signage changes much without changes on the street as well
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Glad to see this covered! I hope the city revisits the design of the street near these schools to change driver behavior--I don't expect the signage changes much without changes on the street as well
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