Politics & Government
New Speed Limit on Greenfield Drive in Motion
Posted speed limits will be decreased from 40 m.p.h. to 35 m.p.h. once the matter is adopted by the City Council later this month.
Better slow down, at least when traveling on Greenfield Drive.
The Laguna Niguel Department of Public Works and the City Council decided to lower the speed limit on Greenfield Drive from the north city limit to Crown Valley Parkway by 5 m.p.h. The decision was approved at Tuesday's night’s council meeting by a vote of 4 to 1, with new Mayor Paul Glaab voting against.
According to Director of Public Works Dave Rogers, the decision to drop the speed limit is based on the late 2010 traffic survey conducted by Hartzog and Crabill, Inc.
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The survey was conducted on 46 street segments in the city, and results on all segments except for Greenfield Drive, indicated that no change in speed was necessary.
According to Rogers’ report on the street survey, the decision to change the speed on Greenfield is based on the state rules that require speed limits to be based on the “reasonable driver” premise. This rule states that most drivers (85 percent) drive in a manner that is based on the conditions they encounter and do not intentionally drive in a manner that will result in collisions or citations.
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Rogers’ report also states that one of the main goals of setting speed limits is to get the majority of cars to travel as close to the same speed as possible. This is because speed related collisions are often caused by speed differences and not pure speed, because differences in speed cause the need to change lanes.
The survey found that the 85th percentile speed on Greenfield Drive is 34.8 m.p.h. Since the city is required to set the speed to the closest 5 m.p.h., this will result in a new speed limit of 35 m.p.h. The report states that the most probable reason for the lower overall speed on the street is heavy turn movements onto and off of the street, short length of the road and closely spaced traffic signals.
Residents still have some time before the new speed limit goes into effect. The matter must first be adopted by the council at the next City Council meeting on Jan. 24, and new signs will need to be posted, at a cost of $500.
