Keizer committee weighs traffic‑calming after residents report speeding, parking in bike lanes

The Keizer Traffic Safety, Bikeways and Pedestrian Committee on April 17 heard residents from Park Meadow and Verta Lane describe persistent speeding and illegal parking in bike lanes and directed staff to compile cost estimates and options for traffic calming.

Committee members and city staff framed the session as a combination of citizen complaints, engineering options and enforcement limits. Resident Ron Raleigh asked the committee to “do something like that on Park Meadow,” referring to an orange placard the city installed on Dearborn that he said was “a big time attention getter.” He suggested placing a placard mid‑block where it could be seen from both directions.

Several people who live on Verta Lane described higher traffic volumes since repaving and new apartments and said parking frequently blocks a short, painted bike lane. Rob Smith, who said he has lived on Verta Lane for 20 years, described children forced into the roadway when cars park in the bike lane and said enforcement has not been consistent: “When there’s somebody parked in that bike lane … that kid’s gonna get killed.” Rachel Navarro, another resident, said a police officer had asked drivers to move parked cars the same day.

Police and staff representatives told the committee enforcement and capital work have limits. Officer Powell said traffic and parking complaints are handled as patrol capacity allows and noted staffing constraints. Public‑works staff member Mike (first name only in the record) said the city has performed multiple speed studies in the affected locations: “We’ve done that study twice, and it came up that there, you know, it didn’t hit the marker for the volume, and it was it didn’t hit it for the speed either. But eventually, we’ll do it again.”

Committee discussion focused on a range of nonexclusive responses: more visible signage (the orange placards), painted speed legends on pavement, temporary or permanent speed tables, curbside parking strategies to visually narrow streets, and neighborhood‑funded options such as a Local Improvement District (LID). Committee members noted some measures — for example, permanent speed tables or pavement reconstruction — require engineering review and budget allocation. Staff and committee members also discussed the city’s Neighborhood Traffic Management Program as the formal path for requests that meet engineering criteria, and the LID/local improvement process when residents want to fund improvements directly.

On next steps the committee agreed to collect and organize potential traffic‑calming measures and corresponding rough cost estimates. Committee members said they will create a shared spreadsheet of about 10 commonly used options (orange placards, painted pavement legends, speed reader boards, painted bike boxes, temporary rubber speed tables, permanent speed tables, chevrons/road art, curb extensions, targeted enforcement, and LID funding) and asked Mike to research approximate costs and maintenance implications so the committee can make a prioritized recommendation to council.

The committee also reviewed other, related projects on its project spreadsheet: green paint crosswalks at Lock Haven and River Road, and a pedestrian‑flag pilot submitted by the West Keizer Neighborhood Association near Chemawa at the end of a sidewalk. Committee members asked staff to add the Chemawa pedestrian flag pilot to the monitoring list.

The meeting included one formal, procedural vote: the committee approved the minutes of its March 20 meeting with a correction changing an item labeled “Greater Northeast Keizer” to “West Keizer Neighborhood Association.”