Livermore staff outline speed cushions, petition rules for Bluebell Drive outreach meeting

Christina Mai, the City of Livermore’s project manager for the neighborhood traffic calming program, described the preliminary plan for Bluebell Drive, Heather Lane and Lilac Avenue and asked residents to help collect signatures for two neighborhood petitions necessary to install speed cushions and other devices.

Mai said the city’s traffic‑calming program — approved by the city council in 2002, paused in 2009 and reinitiated in 2020 — uses a two‑tier approach: Tier 1 (education, enforcement and engineering) includes speed counts and targeted enforcement; if those measures do not reduce speeds sufficiently, the project moves to Tier 2, the neighborhood traffic‑calming program. She told participants a prior lane‑narrowing and bike buffers reduced peak measured speeds from about 40 mph to about 35 mph, but staff advanced the corridor to Tier 2 because speeds remain above the 25 mph limit.

The preliminary design replaces earlier traffic‑circle proposals that the Livermore fire department rejected with a combination of rubber, bolted speed cushions, three raised crosswalks (each about 3 inches high) and relocated radar feedback signs. Mai said cushions are sized and sited to leave gaps for emergency vehicles and to avoid driveways and windows; staff emphasized the cushions are removable if residents later petition for their removal.

To move the project forward, staff explained two petitions: Petition 1 requires signatures from 60% of households inside the project boundary to advance the project (staff cited 1,164 households in the boundary, or roughly 699 signatures for the 60% threshold). Petition 2 requires 100% approval from households adjacent to a proposed device. Staff set a submission deadline of Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, and scheduled a follow‑up meeting to present petition results on Wednesday, Jan. 21 at 6:30 p.m.

Residents at the outreach meeting expressed a mix of support and opposition. Renee, who identified herself as a Bluebell Drive resident, supported the proposal and described multiple near‑misses and crashes near her home: “It’s a neighborhood. It’s not a freaking highway,” she said, arguing for measures to slow drivers where children play. Several other residents urged the city to pursue more police enforcement or to try less invasive devices first, such as flashing beacons at crosswalks or stop signs where appropriate.

Opponents warned that many cushions could divert traffic onto neighboring streets or increase congestion near freeway ramps. Todd, who identified himself as a resident and paramedic, said he opposed the proposal and asked that the city consider a smaller pilot before installing cushions across the full corridor. City staff responded that the design is flexible: spacing can be set up to the 500‑foot guideline, counts can be reduced based on resident feedback during signature collection, and cushions are removable by petition if residents later decide to remove them.

Staff also said the city will contact navigation apps and consider additional measures — including stop‑sign warrants or targeted police enforcement — and reiterated that the project is intended as a pilot that can be revised. Construction was described as tentatively planned for spring or summer 2026, subject to petition results and final design.

The outreach closed with staff seeking volunteer neighborhood captains to collect signatures door‑to‑door and promising to post the presentation and contact information on the city website. The city asked residents to send completed petitions or questions to Christina Mai (email to be posted with the presentation) and to message Sergio during the meeting if they were signing up to volunteer.

What’s next: residents can email staff with design comments and serve as neighborhood captains to gather signatures by Jan. 16; staff will present petition tallies and any design revisions at the Jan. 21 meeting.