The desired outcome of this item is to bring the proposed traffic calming to 100% design plans and complete construction in summer 2023.
 

Citizens have requested the City address excessive speeding along West University Avenue in the Boulder Pointe neighborhood. This has been an off and on issue along this roadway for the past 16 years. West University Avenue is a wide, straight road in Southwest Flagstaff that is classified as a minor collector. A traffic circle design has been created that Staff is confident will effectively slow speeds and promote traffic calming.

The first speed and volume data collection performed on W University Ave in response to citizen concern occurred in 2007. The 85^th percentile speed was determined to be 33 mph, which means 15% of all vehicles traveling on the road were traveling at 33 mph or greater. Given that the speed limit on this road is 25 mph, this level of speeding is unacceptable and qualified for traffic calming, according to the Residential Traffic Management Guide. In response to the speeding observed in 2007, staff striped parking lane lines on the road to narrow the travel lanes and promote slower speeds. This striping project was effective for a number of years.

The neighborhood reached out to staff again in 2020 with concerns of excessive speeding along W University Ave. Staff collected speed and volume data and confirmed the conditions again qualified for traffic calming, with an 85^th percentile speed of 31 mph. Staff held several public meetings with the neighborhood to develop a new traffic calming solution.

The first traffic calming trial was a series of medians along W University Ave to add horizontal deflection to the roadway and radar feedback signs. This trial was installed in the spring of 2021. Horizontal deflection causes vehicles to slow down because they must navigate around the deflection, instead of accelerating down a straight road. Speed and volume data were collected after the medians were installed in a temporary fashion, and the 85^th percentile speed was reduced to 29 mph, and it was determined that the medians effectively calmed traffic according to the Residential Traffic Management Guide.

The median design faced opposition from the neighborhood however, for they felt the speed reduction was not significant enough and that the medians encroached into the parking and bike lanes which are both used by cyclists. Due to this opposition, staff was directed by the Transportation Commission to create a new design without medians. The radar feedback signs remained permanently.

It is worth while to examine the bike lanes existing on W University Ave. There is confusion amongst the neighborhood on where the bike lanes end, and the parking lanes begin. The bike lanes stop and are replaced by parking lanes as you enter the neighborhood. This line of demarcation is essentially where single-family homes front University Avenue the City allows parking, where there are commercial uses a bike lane exists. On a minor collector with speeds and volumes like University Avenue the Active Transportation Master Plan allows the shared lane bicycle facility. In common terms that is where bicycles and vehicles use the same lane, a ‘shared lane’.

After the median design was terminated, Staff held another public meeting in the winter of 2021 to choose an alternative design. Traffic circles were the chosen design based on public input, commissioner discussion and Staff’s recommendation. Initially a single circle was installed at Tombaugh; an additional circle was subsequently installed at S Majestic Rd to better slow vehicles in both directions. The proposed final configuration also includes curb extensions. Curb extensions will help to eliminate the observed behavior of drivers driving next to the sidewalk as they approached the circles to straighten and speed up their path of travel. The curb extensions also benefit pedestrian activity on the sidewalks adjacent to the intersection for the same vehicle path reason.

The speed and volume collection performed after the trial circles were installed showed the 85^th percentile speed had been reduced to 27 mph. This is a significant reduction in speed along the roadway. The trial circles proved to be effective at slowing vehicles, but staff received several concerns from the neighborhood regarding how the circles operated. The concerns were as follows, and how staff addressed the concerns is also listed in italics:

1. Northbound sight distance issues at S Majestic Rd and W University Ave
   1. Staff visited the site and trimmed back trees and bushes to improve sight distance to acceptable levels and added candle stick curb extensions to reposition oncoming University Avenue vehicles.
2. Vehicles veering too close to the sidewalk and cross walks while traversing the circles
   1. Staff reduced the size of the S Majestic Rd circle so that vehicles had sufficient room to traverse the circle without encroaching into the crosswalk. Curb extensions are planned for the final design to prevent vehicles from hugging the curb as they approach the circles.
3. Firetruck access
   1. Staff reached out to the fire department, and they visited the circles to ensure their trucks could effectively move through the circles. For the final design with curb extensions, staff has tasked the consultant to verify large vehicles can traverse the circles using AutoTURN.
4. Cutting in front of the circles when making a left turn
   1. Staff experimented with pavement markings at the Plaza Vieja traffic circles and found a configuration that encourages vehicles to use the circles correctly, this pavement marking will be used in the final design of the University Avenue circles.
5. Bicycle Safety
   1. In the final design, staff will include both ‘Bicycles May Use Full Lane’ signs and paint sharrow markings to make it clear bikes can take the whole lane through the circles. The curb extensions will have mountable curbs so that bikes can traverse them if desired.

Staff showed these findings and corrections to the Transportation Commission in the spring of 2022 and the Commission approved the circles and recommended that Staff bring them to final design and construction. Staff hired Ardurra as a consultant to create the final design for the circles. As Ardurra completed 60% design plans the project was halted due to a citizen petition that was submitted to the city with the following request:

“City Council direct Staff to continue working with residents to develop an expanded system of traffic calming features in Boulder Pointe.”

Staff believes the proposed traffic calming features sufficiently address the ongoing traffic concerns in Boulder Pointe. In addition to the traffic circles, three raised cross walks will be installed at W Woody Way & W Mission Timber, W Woody Way & W Ax Handle, and W Ax Handle & S Highlands Mesa, and a pedestrian crossing with curb extensions to narrow the travel lanes will also be established midblock on W University Ave near the pedestrian walkway connecting W University Ave to W Fresh Aire St.
This project has had extensive public involvement, with a total of 9 public Transportation Commission meetings. The Transportation Commission met again in February 2023 to review the 60% plans and directed staff to complete the traffic circle design and, if necessary, evaluate the traffic conditions after construction to see if the proposed installations are having the desired effects, or if more traffic calming is warranted. The Residential Traffic Management Guide gives a 10-day window to appeal decisions made by the Transportation Commission, and the citizen petition requesting an expanded system was submitted five months after the circles were approved. Staff recommends continuing with the proposed traffic circle design because Staff has already hired and paid Ardurra to develop the 60% plans, the circles have been proven to slow vehicles, and the addition of curb extensions will only improve the effectiveness of the design.
 

Please see the attached 60% design plans and presentation for more information.