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18 - Downtown Traffic Committee presentationItem No. 18 Memorandum TO: Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, and City Council FROM: Grayson Path, City Manager SUBJECT: DOWNTOWN TRAFFIC COMMITTEE DATE: April 22, 2024 BACKGROUND: In January 2022, the City in partnership with TxDOT, implemented a 90 -day STOP Sign Study in the Downtown Plaza for the purpose of testing whether the electronic signals could be replaced with static STOP signs. The roads through the Plaza, that being Main Street, 1St Street NW / SW, Lamar Avenue / Bonham Street, and Clarksville Street / Grand Avenue, are TxDOT roadways, therefore they must approve changes to traffic flow, including signage. This study was in an attempt to determine if portions of the Downtown Toole Design Study could be implemented. After analyzing the data and surveys, TxDOT in October 2022 made the determination that STOP signs would not be allowed. Reasons were provided to the City Council at that time (this memo is not intended to repeat the results of that study, but instead to discuss the next steps we took as a result of this outcome). Following this determination, the City Council and Staff agreed that an ad- hoc committee should be formed to study and implement other traffic -calming measures that might work for TxDOT. This committee came together for its first meeting in January 2023 and met approximately nine (9) times until January 2024. The first meeting involved TxDOT to get parameters we could follow given these are their roadways. We kept TxDOT and the City Council informed throughout the process, but we ultimately concluded by meeting with TxDOT again to verify everything we had done was acceptable. The Committee changed over time, but the following individuals served key roles at portions, or all, of the process: - Mayor Paula Portugal - Mayor Reginald B. Hughes - Mayor Pro Tem Mihir Pankaj - Grayson Path, City Manager Rob Vine, Deputy City Manager - Todd Mittge, City Engineer Andrew Mack, Director of Planning and Community Development Cheri Bedford, Main Street Coordinator Randy Tuttle, Assistant Chief of Police - Edwayne Samis, Traffic Superintendent - Chris Donnan, Third Party Contracted City Engineer This memo is intended to provide the City Council with a summary of the work this committee did to make a positive impact on traffic speeds downtown. STATUS OF ISSUE: Our first step was to speak with TxDOT and identify measures we could reasonably pursue both financially and operationally in a short period of time that fit their regulations; therefore some projects (ex: two way traffic) were outside our intended scope. Throughout 2023, the City Council received regular updates from the City Manager as to the work the committee was doing. The following is a summary of our accomplishments: - Using an Electronic Speed Sign and moving it from point to point for 30-45 day trial periods, tested the traffic count and speed of all four entrances to the Plaza and all four exits from the Plaza. This is the primary reason why it took our committee a year to complete our work as there were eight different testing sites. - Experimented with vertical delineators in "no -parking" hash (gore) areas to discourage vehicles from parking, obstructing visibility for turning traffic. Eventually switched many of these to the "turtle shells" as a more aesthetic change following downtown feedback. - Restriped most all of the parallel parking stalls in and around the Plaza, including "boxing - in" the parking stalls which helped motorists see where to park and where to drive. - Restriped the gore areas (no parking zones) for better visibility. This is where the turtle shells were placed. - Worked with TxDOT to repaint certain crosswalks that had become faded and/or were misaligned with the ADA ramps. - Added static "Speed Limit" signs along stretches of roadway that were missing them. - Tested "Back -In" Angle Parking as a potential future change. Using the electronic speed signs, we have produced the attached map that illustrates data collected on vehicle count, average speed, the number of vehicles that were driving 1 mph or more above the speed limits, the number of vehicles that were driving 5 mph or more above the speed limit (which is a subset of the 1+ mph group), as well as the "Sign Effectiveness Rating" (SER). A few takeaway points: - The number of vehicles that drove 1+ mph over the speed limit ranged from 2.1 % to 25.3%. Those driving 5+ mph ranged from 0.3% to 7.2%, which means a majority of those driving 1+ mph were in between 1 and 4 mph above the speed limit. The number of those driving 5+ mph was much lower. - The SER is an indicator that the sign itself may have played a role in reducing speeds. It measures the speed of the vehicle when it first comes within range (shows the driver the speed they are travelling), and it examines the speed when the driver leaves the range. If the driver decreased speed, the electronic speed sign assumed that displaying the driver's speed played a role in decreasing it. SER ranged from 11.7% to 68.5%, so we have places where the sign appears to help and places that it doesn't seem to make a lot of difference. Regarding back -in angle parking, after learning from TxDOT that front -in angle parking would no longer be allowed for new parking stalls, and as an alternative to parallel parking, we decided to test back -in angle parking. The results were mixed, but primarily positive from those that took the survey. TxDOT is willing to convert parking stalls in to back -in angle parking if we ever decide to pursue that. A major topic we explored early on was the idea of Thermoplastic or Stamped Concrete/Asphalt Crosswalks for the Plaza. The goal was to more clearly mark where pedestrians cross the road. The quotes all came back ranging from $120k - $150k (including local contractors) for 16 crosswalks. Speaking with TxDOT, they were very supportive of the work we accomplished. They felt that our efforts had a positive impact on softening speeds through the downtown. BUDGET: In total, we spent less than $20,000.00 accomplishing the items listed in this memo. Much of that was purchasing the turtle shells and repainting lines. Overall, this was a very inexpensive exercise which we believe has had a positive impact for the downtown. NEXT STEPS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Our committee has completed its work. Our recommendation is that electronic speed signs be purchased and installed at several of the entrances and exits to the Plaza where we saw their effectiveness to have the greatest impact. These signs are expensive ($5k+) and therefore will need to be a budgetary capital request we consider as part of the FY24/25 budget process.