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Homewood staff propose major rewrite of traffic-calming policy, including 85th-percentile speed test and petition changes
Summary
City staff presented a redline of the traffic-calming policy recommending online-only requests, use of 85th-percentile speed for assessments, a minimum study volume of 500 vehicles per day, a crash threshold of five crashes in five years, and raising petition approval from 66% to 75%. Council asked clarifying questions and directed staff to return with final language.
City staff on July 13 presented a substantial redline update to Homewood City’s traffic-calming policy that would change how requests are made, how data are evaluated and how neighborhood petitions are approved.
Amy Nazeri, a city staff presenter, summarized the changes, saying, “We're gonna be using 85th percentile speed as our assessment.” She told council the rewrite would move the application to online-only submissions, simplify data thresholds and remove a standalone ‘‘cut-through traffic’’ section because it is difficult to enforce as a legal determinant.
The proposed thresholds in the redline include a minimum study volume of 500 vehicles per day (local municipalities such as Birmingham and Vestavia use similar cutoffs), a higher cap where vertical traffic calming is not recommended for streets with more than 4,000 vehicles per day, and a lowered crash threshold to five crashes over five consecutive years. The draft also ties approval of vertical elements on emergency routes to police and fire sign-off and raises the positive petition approval rate from 66% to 75%.
Councilors asked procedural and technical questions. One councilor noted that safety concerns near Patriot Park motivated updates to the compact parking and enforcement language; another asked whether existing cut-through or truck restrictions in other parts of the city would be affected. Nazeri said staff will check existing ordinances and incorporate engineering-based boundaries for petition areas: “So that’s gonna be determined by engineering staff… it’ll be on a case-by-case basis.”
The draft also clarifies that signage and striping would still need council approval but would not require a petition like speed cushions do. Staff recommended removing language that suggested temporary removal of installed measures simply because neighbors later changed their minds, saying the city should not treat these installations as ephemeral once resources are expended.
Council did not vote on the policy at the pre-council meeting. Staff will return with a revised draft that incorporates the council’s questions, confirms which existing ordinances may interact with the new policy, and provides clearer maps or standards for petition boundaries.
