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vehicles per day. The proposed policy will establish additional measures for these high <br />volume residential streets and provide additional evaluation based on cut-through traffic. <br />Traffic calming measures can be effectively used to reduce cut-through traffic on local <br />streets. To date, Redwood City has not used traffic volume to qualify requests for traffic <br />calming but has seen a significant increase in complaints related to increased traffic on <br />a street. <br />Depending on a traffic calming plan, the project can cost several thousand dollars <br />(adding additional signs and paint) or over five hundred thousand dollars (adding <br />multiple traffic circles and speed humps). This can lead to a single project using all of <br />the budgeted resources and taking up large amounts of staff time. For this reason the <br />new policy provides a method to prioritize projects so staff can best allocate resources <br />to the locations that will provide the greatest benefit and have the highest need. <br />The proposed policy will include a point base system to rank requests based on several <br />important factors used to determine the severity of current traffic conditions. These <br />factors include: speed, volume, crash history, pedestrian use of the street, <br />neighborhood support, and unique conditions specific to the roadway. Each request will <br />receive a total point value and be ranked in order from the highest to the lowest. This <br />ranking will allow staff to prioritize the traffic calming projects and best direct the <br />available resources. <br />There are currently 14 active traffic calming requests awaiting review. <br /> <br />ALTERNATIVES <br />City Council may choose to not approve the proposed policy and instruct City staff to <br />look at alternative methods to address neighborhood traffic concerns. <br /> <br />FISCAL IMPACT <br />For the current fiscal year, the City has $200,000 budgeted for traffic calming projects. <br />The current 14 active traffic calming requests, if warranted, will have construction costs <br />greater than the current budget. The proposed policy will assist staff in prioritizing the <br />traffic calming requests and help direct available resources to the locations with the <br />greatest need. <br /> <br />ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW <br />Approval of the Policies and Guidelines is exempt from the California Environmental <br />Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 15061 of the CEQA Guidelines because it can <br />be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a <br />significant effect on the environment. <br /> <br /> <br />6.3.B. - Page 3