Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Traffic Calming topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Forest Lake council approves three temporary speed bumps at Lakeside parking lot
Summary
The council approved installing three temporary speed bumps in the Lakeside municipal parking lot this fall for a trial period and asked staff to monitor placement and community feedback.
The Forest Lake City Council voted to install three temporary speed bumps in the Lakeside municipal parking lot to test traffic-calming effectiveness before considering permanent installations.
The motion specified two speed bumps at the west side locations previously proposed by staff plus an additional speed bump south of the crosswalk on the east side of the lot. The council directed staff to install the measures in September, then remove them for winter and reinstall in spring to collect community feedback through the following summer and fall.
City staff described the trial as a way to evaluate placement, user behavior and whether drivers would attempt to drive around the devices. Staff noted temporary devices will help determine permanent placement and said the two device types under consideration are 3‑inch "speed bumps" (designed to slow traffic to about 5–10 mph) and 2‑inch "speed humps" (a gentler profile designed for 10–15 mph). Council members discussed vehicle clearance concerns raised by a resident and asked staff to consider the lot's parking geometry when locating the east-side device.
Councilmember Erickson and Mayor Roberts both said they favored testing an additional device on the east-side lane near the north crosswalk to get a better sense of driver behavior across the lot. The motion to install three temporary devices passed by voice vote.
Staff will report back to council in the fall on public feedback and any recommended changes to placement or conversion to permanent devices.
