ORANGE COUNTY TRAFFIC COMMITTEE. Speed Limit. Sellas Road North/Sellas Road South; Ladera Ranch; TB 952-F1. Traffic Engineering.

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1 ORANGE COUNTY TRAFFIC COMMITTEE SUPERVISORIAL DISTRICT: 5 SUBJECT: LOCATION: INITIATED BY: INVESTIGATOR: REQUEST: Speed Limit Sellas Road North/Sellas Road South; Ladera Ranch; TB 952-F1 Traffic Engineering Deepthi Arabolu Establish Speed Limit DATA: LOCATION MAP: Page 1 of 5

2 EXISTING CONDITIONS Sellas Road North between Sienna Parkway and Avendale Boulevard is a north-south fully improved 40-foot wide residential collector street with one travel lane in each direction and is 0.37 mile in length. At the northern end of this segment, Sellas Road North intersects Sienna Parkway forming a roundabout T intersection. Access to the roundabout is controlled by yield signs. At the southern end of this segment, Sellas Road North intersects Avendale Boulevard and continues southerly as Sellas Road South; right-of-way at this intersection is controlled by an all-way stop. Three residential streets intersect this segment of Sellas Road North on its eastside, forming stop controlled T intersections. The adjacent land use is residential with no residential driveways fronting the street although many of the homes face the street. The Ladera Ranch Elementary/Middle School is located on the westerly side of Sellas Road North. The school, a public library, and a community sports park with playground share this site and occupy the entire frontage of Sellas Road North between Sienna Parkway and Avendale Boulevard; primary vehicular access to the school and public library is on Sienna Parkway and for the park, vehicular access is on Avendale Boulevard. There are assigned school crossing guards located on Sellas Road North at the intersections of Sienna Parkway and Snapdragon Street. Parking is allowed on both sides of Sellas Road North except during street sweeping times and in designated parking restriction zones at some of the intersections. There is no posted speed limit on Sellas Road North except for a 25 mph school zone speed limit adjacent to the school area. Sellas Road South between Avendale Boulevard and Sienna Parkway is a north-south fully improved 38-foot wide residential collector street with one travel lane in each direction and is 0.44 mile in length. Six residential streets intersect this segment of Sellas Road South, forming stop controlled T intersections. At the southern end of this segment, Sellas Road South intersects Sienna Parkway forming a roundabout T intersection. The adjacent land use is residential with no residential driveways fronting the street although many of the homes face the street. A small community park with playground and pool is located on the west side of Sellas Road South near Hydrangea Street. This park only has on-street parking. Parking is allowed on both sides of Sellas Road South except during street sweeping times and within designated parking restriction zones at intersections. There is currently no posted speed limit on Sellas Road South. TRAFFIC VOLUMES (BOTH DIRECTIONS) Location Sellas Road North b/t Sienna Pkwy and Avendale Blvd Sellas Road South b/t Avendale Blvd and Sienna Pkwy Date ADT Volume Peak Hour Volume AM PM 12/17/15 1, /17/15 1, Page 2 of 5

3 SPEED ZONE FIELD DATA Location Sellas Road North (22 Sellas Rd N) Sellas Road South (86 Sellas Rd S) Date 85 th Percentile 50th Percentile Pace Speed Pace (%) NB/SB NB/SB NB/SB NB/SB Posted Speed Limit 1/26/ None 1/26/ None ACCIDENT DATA Traffic Engineering s collision records show a total of one reported accident in the past 24 months on Sellas Road North. The one reported accident was an intersection accident that occurred at the intersection of Sellas Road North and Snapdragon Street. On Sellas Road South, Traffic Engineering s collision records show one midblock accident in the past 24 months. The midblock accident rate on Sellas Road South calculated per million vehicle miles traveled per year is 1.72, which is less than the State expected accident rate of 2.39 for a similar type of roadway. ENFORCEMENT JURISDICTION The California Highway Patrol (CHP) provides speed enforcement within the County unincorporated area. ANALYSIS Currently, Sellas Road North and Sellas Road South have no posted speed limit; the maximum speed limit of 55 mph applies to these streets as per California Vehicle Code (CVC) Section State law permits lowering the maximum speed limit on the basis of an Engineering and Traffic Survey. Posting a speed limit on the basis of an Engineering and Traffic Survey would permit targeted enforcement activity by the CHP. OC Public Works Traffic Engineering conducted an Engineering and Traffic Survey in compliance with the current CVC requirements to establish a posted speed limit on Sellas Road North and Sellas Road South. The survey results on Sellas Road North showed a measured 85 th percentile speed of 28 mph. The 10 mph pace was 18 to 27 mph with 68% of surveyed drivers within pace. The average speed of the drivers surveyed for both directions was 24 mph. The survey results on Sellas Road South showed a measured 85 th percentile speed of 31 mph. The 10 mph pace Page 3 of 5

4 was 23 to 32 mph with 74% of surveyed drivers within pace. The average speed of the drivers surveyed for both directions was 27 mph. The California Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (CA MUTCD) requires the posted speed limit to be established at the nearest 5 mph increment to the 85th percentile. A 5 mph reduction may be considered based on highway, traffic, and roadside conditions not readily apparent to the driver. State law also allows the speed limit to be rounded down to the nearest 5 mph increment below the 85th percentile. Based on the current speed survey data, a 85 th percentile speed of 28 mph on Sellas Road North would allow the speed limit to be set at 25 mph and an 85 th percentile speed of 31 mph on Sellas Road South would typically require the posted speed limit to be set at 30 mph. However, due to the short segment lengths of both streets, less than a half-mile each, and to avoid a short speed zone change, one uniform speed limit of 25 mph for both segments is recommended. In compliance with the CVC and CA MUTCD requirements, Traffic Engineering recommends a speed limit of 25 mph on both Sellas Road North and Sellas Road South. The recommended 25 mph speed limit will allow radar speed enforcement and ensure orderly flow of traffic in a reasonable and safe manner. PUBLIC COMMENTS AND INPUT A council member of the Ladera Ranch Civic Council (LRCC) addressed the Committee. He noted Sellas Road North and Sellas Road South are located within the middle of their community and are heavily traveled especially because of the Ladera Ranch Elementary and Middle Schools with a total student population of about two-thousand. He noted that the current maximum speed limit of 55 mph applicable to Altura as per the CVC endangers the safety of residents and students. The LRCC strongly supports staff s recommendation to establish the proposed speed limit of 25 mph on both Sellas Road North and Sellas Road South. TRAFFIC COMMITTEE DISCUSSION The Chairman of the Traffic Committee stated that the comments made earlier in the meeting by the Committee member representing CHP, about conditions being present on these streets that could be considered as not readily apparent to the driver, would be reflected on this record. The CHP Officer had noted that even though the homes do not have driveways onto Sellas Road, the homes face the street where children frequently play and there is potential of children crossing the road between parked cars. In response to the CHP Officer s comments, staff stated difference in opinion by noting that all these conditions are readily apparent to the driver. Page 4 of 5

5 The Committee unanimously approved Traffic Engineering s recommendation to establish a speed limit of 25 mph on Sellas Road North and Sellas Road South. RECOMMENDATION Establish a 25 mph Radar Enforced speed limit on Sellas Road North between Sienna Parkway and Avendale Boulevard and a 25 mph Radar Enforced speed limit on Sellas Road South between Avendale Boulevard and Sienna Parkway. BOARD ACTION NECESSARY TO ENACT THIS RECOMMENDATION 1. Approve this report. 2. By resolution, establish a 25 mph Radar Enforced speed limit on Sellas Road North between Sienna Parkway and Avendale Boulevard. 3. By resolution, establish a 25 mph Radar Enforced speed limit on Sellas Road South between Avendale Boulevard and Sienna Parkway. Page 5 of 5