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Traffic engineer outlines safe‑routes, curb management and technology options for Salinas
Summary
An on‑call traffic engineer described the city’s traffic‑engineering programs, safe‑routes‑to‑school planning, curb management and Assembly Bill 43 (daylighting) requirements, and discussed alternatives to speed humps including speed cushions and virtual detection tools for bicycles and pedestrians.
Jaime Rodriguez, the city's on‑call traffic engineer, briefed the Salinas Traffic and Transportation Commission on March 13 about traffic engineering, traffic operations, traffic‑calming strategies and emerging tools the city could consider.
Rodriguez said staff work spans design and field implementation, master‑planning (bicycle and pedestrian networks, complete streets), traffic operations (customer service requests, parking and signals) and grant‑driven projects such as Safe Routes to School. "I'm gonna cover a few topics today," he said, and walked commissioners through examples and current best practices.
Why it matters: The presentation scoped choices city staff use when responding to resident complaints and when planning roadway and safety projects. It summarized grantable projects, design standards and ways to prioritize limited staff and capital resources.
Safe Routes to School and engagement: Rodriguez described school‑specific route maps and infrastructure recommendations used to prioritize crosswalks, curb ramps and pedestrian beacons. He showed an interactive map product (schoolroutes.org) that turn paper route maps into downloadable, app‑based guides and allow parents and students to organize walking and biking groups. Rodriguez said interactive mapping helps staff discover actual routes families use and target infrastructure where it will have the most benefit.
Curb management and AB 43 ("daylighting"): Rodriguez explained curb‑management work — red curb, loading zones, ADA spaces — and discussed Assembly Bill 43, which requires clear sightlines at corners by removing parking near crosswalks (commonly described as the 20‑foot daylighting zone adjacent to crosswalks). He said many cities start with an education and warning period before issuing citations and often install red curb as part of resurfacing or restriping projects rather than by wholesale enforcement in a single sweep. Commissioners discussed local enforcement capacity and whether the city has a definitive, public inventory of painted curb zones.
Traffic calming: Rodriguez recommended a staged approach for neighborhood calming: stage 1 quick operational fixes (signage, striping, crosswalk refresh), stage 2 targeted engineering changes, and stage 3 larger physical measures such as speed cushions or tables. He noted research showing traditional speed humps can add notable delay to emergency vehicles, and described alternatives — speed cushions with wheel gaps or half‑street tables — that reduce emergency response time impacts while still lowering average speeds.
Standards and best practices: Rodriguez reviewed guiding documents used by traffic engineers: the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD and California MUTCD), the California Vehicle Code, trip‑generation guidance from the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE), and design innovations from NACTO. He emphasized that pavement markings and limit lines should be installed to align with the vehicle code; for example, engineers should ensure white limit lines are present where crosswalks are marked.
Technology trends: Rodriguez described virtual detection and mobile‑app‑based detection that can let bicyclists or pedestrians register presence for signal priority (and alert users that a detection request was sent). He said these tools help when loop detectors or video detection fail or are unreliable.
Public and commissioner comments: Residents and commissioners raised enforcement and education concerns: requests to restore drivers‑education in schools, the need for bike‑safety instruction for students, blocked bike lanes from parked cars or trash cans, and the lack of bike racks at shopping centers. Public speaker Yolanda Hayes asked that traffic‑calming requests require applicants to describe problems and propose solutions to filter single‑person complaints from neighborhood safety issues. Commissioners requested copies of example design graphics (speed table patterns) and asked staff to circulate AB 43 education materials and the curb‑management inventory.
Ending: Staff said the city will continue warnings for AB 43 implementation in the short term and will bring a traffic‑calming study session to the commission in June or July to review process improvements and a prioritized list of projects tied to budget timelines.
