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Council reviews speed study on Fort Union; staff recommend traffic calming and data collection
Summary
Staff presented a 2024 speed and volume study on Fort Union Boulevard showing 80th‑percentile speeds near 42 mph in some segments and recommended targeted traffic-calming (delineators, daylighted intersections) and further data collection, including near‑miss camera monitoring and enforcement options.
Ottawa Heights staff told the City Council they conducted a 2024 speed and traffic count study on Fort Union Boulevard (data collected Nov. 27–Dec. 1) and urged a measured approach that combines engineering, enforcement and education rather than changing speed limit signs alone.
The study divided Fort Union into five segments and found weekday daily volumes ranging from roughly 24,000 vehicles in busier segments to about 10,000 in more residential stretches. Staff reported 80th/85th‑percentile speeds in commercial stretches at about 40–42 mph and higher speeds (up to 45 mph in some samples) in residential segments farther east.
“Studies and experience have shown raising or lowering the speed limit by itself does not necessarily change driver behavior,” staff said, and recommended sensitive solutions such as traffic‑calming devices, daylighted intersections that improve visibility, delineators and better intersection design rather than sign changes alone.
Councilmembers raised specific concerns about anomalies and high outliers, local school access and pedestrian safety; one councilmember recommended low‑cost measures (cardboard police car replicas, targeted delineators) while another advocated camera monitoring to capture near misses without identifying license plates.
Staff said UDOT will be asked to weigh in for corridor-level engineering and that the full traffic report will be distributed to council members within days for deeper review. The council directed staff to return with specific, implementable recommendations based on the study’s findings.
