TITLE
Recommendation to request City Attorney to prepare an ordinance amending Long Beach Municipal Code Sections 10.12.010 to 10.12.030, relating to Speed Limits on City Streets, on the street segments listed in Attachment A. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
On July 14, 2020, City Council adopted the Safe Streets Long Beach plan (Plan), which aims to reduce fatal and serious injury collisions to zero by 2026. The Plan 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 Vehicle Code 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.” After a review of vehicle speeds on high-injury corridors and other arterial roadways citywide, the Public Works Department is recommending the strategy of reducing posted speed limits where permitted by the California Vehicle Code.
Under the provisions of Section 40802 of the California Vehicle Code, engineering and traffic surveys are a necessary prerequisite to radar enforcement of speed limits. Any posted limit, other than the maximum limit of 65 miles per hour (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 updates the engineering and traffic surveys for each speed zone approximately every five years to validate speed limits and to facilitate enforcement within Long Beach.
Based upon the results of engineering and traffic surveys recently conducted and approved by the City Traffic Engineer on arterial streets, 12 arterial street segments warrant a decrease of their existing speed limits. Other segment limits must be adjusted to account for changes in right-of-way and adjacent uses. Those segments warranted no change in existing li...
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