Neighborhood Traffic Management Program |
CALIFORNIA |
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PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
Sacramento, California historically
has directed the majority of their traffic safety efforts toward
the most heavily traveled type of street, the arterial. However,
as traffic has increased on arterial streets, more traffic has
diverted to neighborhood streets, raising safety concerns in the
affected neighborhoods. Neighborhood streets were not engineered
to accommodate this increase in traffic (and higher speeds of
travel), nor were residents prepared for the dangers to neighborhood
pedestrians and bicyclists. (In 1992, pedestrians represented
30 percent of all traffic fatalities in the city.) As traffic
has increased in neighborhoods, residents have demanded a higher
level of attention to their traffic safety concerns which, if
properly addressed, would further strain already overburdened
city resources.
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
The goal of the Neighborhood Traffic Management Program (NTMP)
was to increase safe traffic practices in Sacramento's neighborhoods,
supported by the following objective: to develop a multi-year
plan of engineering, education and enforcement activities that
addresses traffic safety.
STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES
The Neighborhood Traffic Management Program was developed in fiscal
year 1996, involving eight neighborhoods through which the multi-year,
multi- phased program was tested. The several phases of the program
included:
The eight neighborhoods that represented the pilot program effectively used a combination of engineering strategies, enforcement activities, and educational programs to address the traffic safety problems characteristic of each neighborhood. Speed limits were decreased from 35 miles per hour (mph) to 25 mph; a mobile radar speed display board was employed to curb speeding; new stop signs and crosswalk signs were installed in several locations; delineators were placed along the edges of some streets to increase their visibility; block parties were held in the eight neighborhoods as a public education tool; and enforcement was increased in areas with newly-installed engineering solutions.
In November 1997, as the pilot neighborhoods
were completing the final phases of their efforts, kick-off meetings
were held for the next eight neighborhoods. City engineers are
confident that the experiences of the pilot neighborhoods will
be instrumental in helping the next eight areas achieve the traffic
safety goals for their own neighborhoods.
RESULTS Preliminary data for the nine study areas that have completed their programs indicate an average decrease of speeds from between 5 mph and 10 mph; traffic volumes reduced by as much as 20 percent; fewer collisions; and more than 100 citations have been issued for speeding, traffic control and parking violations. |
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National Highway Traffic Safety Administration |
Spring 1998 |