Racine officials outline engineering, enforcement and budget options to address speeding

The Racine Common Council’s Committee of the Whole heard a presentation Feb. 4 from the city’s Department of Public Works and the Racine Police Department on tools, data and budget options to reduce speeding and reckless driving across the city.

The presentation and ensuing discussion focused on three categories of traffic safety — education, enforcement and engineering — and on near-term steps alderpersons can take to get traffic studies or temporary countermeasures deployed in their districts. City staff emphasized that many traffic-control decisions must follow federal and state guidance and, where applicable, codified city ordinances.

Commissioner Rooney, who led the Department of Public Works presentation, told alders the department is operating at full staffing in engineering and can perform traffic studies, parking studies and signal timing analysis. He said staff follow national and state guidance including the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) and Wisconsin motor vehicle law. “We’re professional engineers. We need to follow this document,” Rooney said, referring to the MUTCD.

Rooney described the department’s data-collection tools and the engineering basis for setting speed limits. The department uses pneumatic tube counters to gather weeklong speed and volume counts (seasonally limited by winter conditions), and analyzes the 85th-percentile speed — a standard used by engineers to determine a reasonable operating speed. He explained the department reviews crash reports from the Racine Police Department to identify correctable causes and can engage outside traffic engineering consultants for projects beyond in-house capacity.

Rooney reviewed physical and paint-based “friction” measures that reduce speeds by narrowing lanes or perceived travel width, including bicycle lanes, protected bike lanes, lane reductions and bump-outs. He said larger infrastructure options such as roundabouts and high-intensity activated crosswalks (HAWK signals) can be effective but carry higher costs and require warrant studies. He also described the city’s locally codified process for speed humps: per the ordinance passed in November, a request is triggered when at least four property owners on a block submit a letter asking the department to evaluate a speed hump.

On data and thresholds, Rooney explained how staff use the 85th-percentile speed and said traffic investigators commonly consider patterns such as when about 3% of traffic is traveling 11 miles per hour or more over the posted limit as a factor in taking further action.

Racine’s police chief (name not given in the meeting transcript) described enforcement activity and partnership with DPW. The chief said traffic enforcement increased over the prior year, reporting: “Last year, we issued just under 6,000 traffic citations, 26% increase from the year before.” He said the department also stopped roughly 4,700 vehicles — “a 29% increase from the year before” — and that enforcement is supported by three state or federal traffic grants that fund targeted enforcement relating to reckless driving, speeding, seatbelt compliance and OWI.

The chief said the department deploys radar speed feedback signs and portable speed trailers, and that each alder will receive a speed-board sign pair procured through last year’s budget. “There are 15 pairs of sign that have been awarded to you guys through the budget process — one for each alder district,” the chief said, and he asked alderpersons to submit preferred installation addresses so DPW can schedule installations (estimated four to eight weeks depending on DPW workload).

Alders pressed staff on common concerns: where and when speed devices and studies can be deployed, how physical changes are justified under the MUTCD, seasonal limits of pneumatic tubes, and the division of responsibilities between police enforcement, municipal court/DA prosecution and DPW design work. Alder Saborston asked whether the city had enough pneumatic tube counters and the cost; staff replied the city had purchased more tubes and data collectors with prior budget money and can perform multiple deployments simultaneously.

City staff and the city attorney suggested alders consider setting aside funds in the 2026 budget or the capital improvement program for medium-cost interventions such as protected bike lanes, enhanced crosswalks or bump-outs. The city attorney noted routine sign changes fall in the operating budget, while larger geometry alterations should be budgeted in CIP and can sometimes be added to annual paving contracts.

No formal vote or new ordinance was taken at the Feb. 4 meeting. Staff said they will circulate the presentation to alders, accept written requests (including the four-property-owner letters required by the existing speed-hump ordinance), deploy data-collection equipment and assist with placing the budgeted speed-board signs once alders provide locations.

The discussion closed with staff offering to pilot low-cost lane-narrowing trials using traffic barrels and follow-up speed-tube measurements to evaluate behavior change before committing capital funds.

For now, council members were asked to gather constituent requests and to consider targeting resources during upcoming budget deliberations so DPW and police can implement medium- and longer-term speed reduction projects across Racine.