Staff recommends retaining 35 mph on Union Street South after speed study

Philip, a transportation staff member, told the Concord City Council that a recent speed study on Union Street South shows drivers travel at speeds that support keeping the posted 35 mph limit.

The study found an 85th-percentile speed of 37 miles an hour and an average speed of about 33.9 mph; staff recommended that the current 35 mph speed limit is “safe and reasonable under the conditions in the data observed,” Philip said.

Council members said residents have petitioned to lower the limit to 25 mph. Philip said the most recent petition was collected on an online forum rather than the city's petition form, which prevents staff from verifying signatures and addresses. He explained the city's formal process: staff collects raw speed data with unobtrusive “stealth” counters, reviews factors such as sight distance, sidewalks, crash history and adjacent land use, consults the Transportation and Safety Advisory Committee (TSAC), and, if needed, requires a neighborhood petition signed by 75% of affected property owners before bringing a recommended change to council.

Police staff told council they reviewed 12 months of incident data for the reviewed segment — from March 2024 through February 2025 — and recorded 20 crashes in that period; officers found that speed was not a contributing factor in those crashes. Staff also reported 34 speeding citations during the same 12 months. Philip noted prior speed studies on nearby segments produced similar 85th-percentile speeds (38, 38, 37, 38 mph), so the current 37 mph result is consistent with historical data.

Philip said the city uses the Federal Highway Administration standard (commonly described as the 85th-percentile) and typically sets posted limits within ±5 mph of that speed. He described traffic-calming alternatives when a speed-limit sign change is not the right intervention.

Council members asked procedural questions about the petition process and scope of the affected area. Philip said staff will define the roadway segment to be considered and provide that universe to petition organizers so they know how many signatures are required. He also said staff will send the study data to the resident petitioners via the chief and department director.

Because staff recommended no change based on the study, any petition refiled on the city's form would return to council for consideration; Philip said that if the petition meets the city's verification requirements it will come back to council, and “staff's recommendation would be not to change the speed limit.”