Planning staff previews traffic-calming ordinance focused on quick-build neighborhood measures

Planning staff presented a proposed traffic-calming ordinance to the planning commission and council at the Feb. 11 work session, describing the measure as a Title 10 policy to create a Public Works toolkit for neighborhood speed-reduction projects. The presenter said the ordinance emphasizes quick-build, lower-cost interventions at the neighborhood level — not major collector or arterial projects — and laid out the process for requests, design review and appeals to council.

The staff presentation listed specific measures including high-visibility crosswalks, curb extensions, mini-roundabouts, chicanes, diverters, speed humps and speed cushions, and said emergency access would be preserved in designs. The presenter said installations would typically be funded by the property owners proposing them rather than through an immediate city funding bucket and that "there's in the code, there's looking 6 months after for evaluation of effectiveness." A councilor and other participants praised the breadth of options and asked that the formal code clearly define which street classifications the ordinance will cover when it is drafted.