Traffic committee denies speed-hump criteria for Sandy Hook Street, approves signage instead

The West Covina Traffic Committee on May 13 reviewed a resident request for speed humps on Sandy Hook Street between West Blue Ash Road and West Crisper Street and approved a staff recommendation to install speed-limit signage and pavement legends rather than speed humps.

Staff reported the segment is classified as a local road, is 32 feet wide with one 16-foot travel lane in each direction and has a prima facie posted speed limit of 25 mph. Average daily traffic counts taken April 15, 2025 showed 292 vehicles per day eastbound and 296 vehicles per day westbound for a total of 588 vehicles per day. A 24-hour speed survey for April 15, 2025 recorded the 80th-percentile speed at 27 mph. SWITRS collision data for January 2022–December 2024 showed no reported collisions on the segment during that period.

"According to the policy, qualifying streets must have a minimum uninterrupted length of 1,200 feet and a critical speed of, or 80 fifth percentile speed of 25 miles per hour or above. This segment is approximately 650 feet long, and the critical speed was found to be 27 miles per hour," staff reported. Staff concluded the segment did not meet the city's speed-hump criteria because it is shorter than the required uninterrupted length, although the critical speed was above 25 mph.

Given those findings, staff recommended installing 25 mph speed limit signs on both the west and east sides of Sandy Hook Street and adding pavement legends; the committee voted to approve the recommendation and forward it to City Council for final approval. Staff noted the resident continued to request speed humps and was informed that the location did not meet the policy criteria, so the signage is an interim measure to evaluate whether speeds decrease.

There were no audience comments on the item and no committee members voiced objections during the meeting.