TITLE
Recommendation to request City Attorney to prepare an amendment to the Long Beach Municipal Code, Sections 10.12.010 to 10.12.030 relating to Speed Limits on City Streets. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
Effective January 1, 2022, Assembly Bill 43 grants agencies expanded discretion when setting speed limits. Previous restrictions regarding speed limits lower than 25 miles per hour (mph) have been removed, and special allowances for reduced speed limits in business districts are established. The Public Works Department has undertaken an evaluation of the City of Long Beach’s (City) existing speed limits and is recommending reductions in posted limits on 107 street segments.
The “Safe Streets Long Beach” Plan (Plan), which aims to reduce fatal and serious injury collisions to zero by 2026, identifies driving “too fast for conditions” as the leading cause of fatal and injury collisions. Keystone Action #2 of the Plan directs staff to reduce vehicle speed limits, where consistent with the California Vehicle Code (CVC) requirements, to reduce the likelihood of fatal and injury collisions by targeting “identified high-injury corridors and intersections for lane reductions and other speed management strategies.” Action 2.2 of the Plan calls on City staff to take action to “Lower speed limits on neighborhood streets to 15-20 mph based on radar surveys.” Survey results on 23 neighborhood street segments allow for 15-20 mph limits in this update.
Under the provisions of Section 40802 of the CVC, engineering and traffic surveys are a necessary prerequisite to radar enforcement of speed limits. Any posted limit, other than the maximum limit of 65 mph or the prima facie 25 mph limit on local streets in a business or residential district, must be justified by such a survey to employ radar enforcement. The City regularly updates the engineering and traffic surveys for each speed zone to validate speed limits and facilitate enforcement within the City.
Based upon the results of the engineering and traffic surveys recently conducted and approved by the City’s Traffic Engineers on arterial streets, 107 street segments warrant a decrease of their existing speed limits. The street segments, as detailed in the attached list and shown on the attached vicinity map, are recommended for a change in speed limit (Attachment A and B).
This action will include increased speed limits on the new International Gateway Bridge which was constructed with higher design speeds and more lanes than the previous segments of Ocean Boulevard on the old Gerald Desmond Bridge.
This matter was reviewed by Deputy City Attorney Vanessa S. Ibarra on November 16, 2022 and by Budget Management Officer Nader Kaamoush on November 11, 2022
TIMING CONSIDERATIONS
Council action on this matter is not time critical.
FISCAL IMPACT
The cost of materials and installation of the proposed "Speed Limit" signs is estimated at
$75,000. Sufficient funding is budgeted in the General Fund Group in the Public Works Department. This recommendation can be completed by the City’s On-Call contractors to avoid disruption of City teams’ existing maintenance priorities. There is no staffing impact beyond the normal budgeted scope of duties and is consistent with existing City Council priorities. There is no local job impact associated with this recommendation.
SUGGESTED ACTION
Approve recommendation.
BODY
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Respectfully Submitted,
ERIC LOPEZ
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS
APPROVED:
THOMAS B. MODICA
CITY MANAGER