Title
TRAFFIC CONCERNS ON 121ST AVENUE WEST OF SUNSET AVENUE
Background
The Engineering and Police Departments have received complaints of speeding on 121st Avenue west of Sunset Avenue. The Traffic Commission reviewed the following data collected on 121st Avenue at their July 12, 2017 meeting. The Commission directed staff to send a letter to the adjacent property owners inviting them to discuss their concerns at their next Traffic Commission meeting on Wednesday, August 9, 2017.
On 121st Avenue just west of Sunset Avenue and adjacent to the rural residential lots, the speed limit is 55 MPH. When you travel west, just before Opal Street, you encounter urban sized residential lots where the speed limit drops to 30 MPH. The traffic counts in 2007 were 155 vehicles per day and as development has increased in the area, the traffic counts have increased to 568 in 2015. The 85th percentile speed has been between 39 to 42 MPH just west of Sunset Avenue. In 2015, the 85th percentile speed averaged 38 MPH in front of 4813 121st Avenue, the first house in the 30 MPH zone.
In February of 2016, the Police Department monitored this area for two afternoons and did not issue any tickets. In June of 2017, the Police Department set up the speed trailer for a week at 4813 121st Avenue. This is part of the neighborhood education program of reminding drivers of the transition to the 30 MPH speed limit. The 85th percentile speed in front of this house was 36 MPH. The Engineering Department will be placing traffic count tubes to verify the speeds and the Police Department will schedule traffic enforcement.
Traffic Commission asked staff to research the rural residential speed limit in Minnesota Statutes. Attached is portions of Statute that relate to regulatory speed limits discussed in this report. It appears that this area will meet statutory requirements for the Traffic Commission to recommend to City Council to establish the area between Sunset Avenue and the 30 MPH speed limit as a rural residential district in order to post the first quarter mile off Sunset Avenue as 35 MPH.
121st Avenue was extended to Woodland Parkway in 2013. 121st Avenue from Sunset Avenue to Woodland Parkway is a Municipal State Aid (MSA) route that connects the surrounding residential area to the adjacent County Road system. With this MSA designation, the City is not allowed to install speed humps, which have been requested by a couple of residents in the 30 MPH area. One solution to help slow traffic on the roadway would be to install a white edge stripe on both sides of the street and double yellow centerline stripes to narrow the drive lanes to eleven feet. Traffic enforcement will also be utilized to help slow traffic in this area.
Recommendation
Take public comment and by motion, send any recommendations to City Council.