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Resident warns council about speeding on 9600 North; city releases Canal Boulevard speed data
Summary
A Highland resident urged the council to prioritize safety on 9600 North after reporting repeated high speeds near homes and schools. City staff presented recent speed studies on Canal Boulevard showing average and 85th‑percentile speeds above posted limits in several segments.
A Highland resident told the City Council on March 18 that high speeds on 9600 North endanger children and homes, and urged the council to put the street at the top of its traffic‑safety priorities.
Resident Kevin Pace described multiple instances of excessive speed near his grandchildren's home and said drivers are routinely observed well above the 25 mph limit. "We believe ... that 9600 North should be on top of the city's priority list for traffic safety," he said during the meeting's unscheduled public appearances.
City staff later presented segment‑by‑segment speed data for Canal Boulevard, the parallel east–west collector that city engineers and residents have long debated. Staff said data collectors recorded elevated speeds on the western portion of Canal Boulevard (the section that includes the narrowing at Mitchell Hollow and Madison Avenue): 80th‑percentile speeds in that western segment were in the 40–43 mph range and average speeds were about 39 mph. Staff reported that nearly half of drivers in that western segment were recorded at 40 mph or higher.
By contrast, staff told the council, average speeds were lower in the middle and eastern sections of Canal Boulevard where residential development and business frontage provide a greater visual constriction: averages in those sections ranged from the low‑to‑mid 30s and the share of drivers recorded at 40 mph or higher fell to the single digits in the mid section and roughly 20% in the eastern section.
Council members and staff discussed traffic‑calming tools already used on Canal Boulevard — such as lane narrowing at Mitchell Hollow, speed feedback signs and striping — and asked staff to add vehicle‑count data to the speed report for a clearer picture of total traffic load in each segment. Staff agreed to return with counts and additional data on nearby streets including 9600 North and 11800 North.
Pace asked the council to consider the safety of children who walk to Legacy elementary and junior high and said law enforcement guidance to prioritize citations only for drivers 15 mph over the limit had limited deterrent effect on local residential streets. Council members acknowledged the staging and enforcement limitations described by Pace and directed staff to bring back recommended mitigations and counts for the council's review.
No ordinance or formal speed‑limit change was adopted at the meeting; staff said proposed interventions will be presented after additional data review.
