Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Speed Limits topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
TSAC adopts staff checklist for speed‑change requests; form to be used for February submittals
Summary
The Transportation Safety Advisory Committee voted to require city staff to complete a new checklist when handling citizen submittals on speed‑limit or traffic‑control changes. The checklist incorporates engineering data, enforcement data and neighborhood information; staff will finalize edits and begin using the form with February submittals.
The Transportation Safety Advisory Committee voted on Nov. 5 to adopt a staff checklist that will be completed whenever a citizen requests a traffic‑control or speed‑limit change.
The checklist combines traditional engineering measures — including the 85th‑percentile speed — with other items city staff and TSAC members agreed should be considered, such as police enforcement data, street classification, radar collection data, road geometry (including whether a street has curbs), and citizen input. Carol, a city transportation staff member, told the committee, "This checklist will be part of the submittal form because there are items in here that we are asking the submitter to provide. So that is correct." The committee instructed staff to finalize wording and edits; members agreed the checklist would be used beginning with February submittals.
Why it matters: Texas is revising guidance in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (state draft), and committee members said the draft guidance places more emphasis on engineering judgment and multiple factors beyond the 85th‑percentile speed. The adopted checklist is intended to give staff and TSAC a consistent set of data and narrative context to evaluate requests.
Discussion highlights: Members debated specific checklist items. Sharon Brimhall and others asked that the form explicitly record whether a street is curbed and whether trash or recycling cans commonly encroach on the roadway, noting those obstructions can reduce travel width on narrow, unlined streets. Members also discussed whether the form should ask for number of households or estimated residents; the committee favored a household/property count (addresses) rather than attempting to estimate residents.
Members debated whether to include a formal vehicle "pace" (the 10‑mph range containing the plurality of vehicle speeds). Staff said existing radar reports include average speeds and counts by time‑of‑day and agreed to check whether their equipment and reporting could produce a pace histogram. The committee did not require pace as a mandatory item at this meeting but asked staff to report back.
Formal action: A member moved that the city move forward with using the form; the motion was seconded and carried by voice vote. The committee asked staff to incorporate the agreed edits (curb yes/no, trash cans yes/no, household/address counts, pickup frequency) and return the final wording to the committee before implementation.
What the committee did not decide: Members discussed whether the new checklist should be used to reopen two prior tie‑vote submittals (Nolahasse and one other). TSAC members and staff noted the committee's rules currently bar reconsideration within 365 days unless new safety factors are shown; the committee requested staff bring proposed rule changes and an agenda item on rules of procedure for the February meeting.
Next steps: Staff will finalize the checklist wording, confirm what the radar equipment can produce about speed distributions, and begin applying the checklist to submittals starting with the February cycle.
