BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1669
Page 1
Date of Hearing: March 24, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
AB 1669 (Wagner) - As Introduced: February 12, 2014
SUBJECT : Speed limits: Unincorporated City of Orange Park
Acres: equestrian trails
SUMMARY : Authorizes Orange County, when conducting an
engineering and traffic survey within the unincorporated City of
Orange Park Acres, to consider equestrian safety. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Authorizes Orange County, when conducting an engineering and
traffic survey within the unincorporated City of Orange Park
Acres, to consider equestrian safety in addition to the other
factors specified in law.
2)Makes findings related to the necessity of a special law due
to unique circumstances applicable only to the unincorporated
City of Orange Park Acres and its equestrian trails.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires the California Department of Transportation
(Caltrans), after consultation with local agencies and public
hearings, to adopt rules and regulations prescribing uniform
standards and specifications for all official traffic control
devices, including, but not limited to, stop signs, yield
right-of-way signs, speed restriction signs, railroad warning
approach signs, street name signs, lines and markings on the
roadway, and stock crossing signs.
2)Requires an engineering and traffic survey to include, among
other requirements deemed necessary by Caltrans, consideration
of all of the following:
a) Prevailing speeds as determined by traffic engineering
measurements;
b) Accident records; and,
c) Highway, traffic, and roadside conditions not readily
apparent to the driver.
AB 1669
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1)Permits local authorities to additionally consider all of the
following when conducting an engineering and traffic survey:
a) Residential density, if any of the following conditions
exist on the particular portion of highway and the property
contiguous thereto, other than a business district:
i) Upon one side of the highway, within a distance of a
quarter of a mile, the contiguous property fronting
thereon is occupied by 13 or more separate dwelling
houses or business structures;
ii) Upon both sides of the highway, collectively, within
a distance of a quarter of a mile, the contiguous
property fronting thereon is occupied by 16 or more
separate dwelling houses or business structures; or,
iii) The portion of highway is longer than one-quarter of
a mile but has the ratio of separate dwelling houses or
business structures to the length of the highway
described in either of the above.
b) Pedestrian and bicyclist safety.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS : Existing law requires Caltrans, after consultation
with local agencies and public hearings, to adopt rules and
regulations that prescribe uniform standards and specifications
for traffic control devices, including the posting of speed
limits. Caltrans adopts these rules as the California Manual on
Uniform Traffic Control Devices (the California MUTCD), which,
among other things, prescribes the process for setting speed
limits in this state.
In California and elsewhere, speed limits are generally set in
accordance with engineering and traffic surveys, which measure
prevailing vehicular speeds and establish the limit at or near
the 85th percentile (i.e., the speed that 15% of motorists
exceed). California uses the 85th percentile to set speed
limits except in cases where the limit is set in state law, such
as the 25 miles per hour (MPH) limit in residence districts and
school zones, or where an engineering and traffic survey shows
that other safety-related factors suggest that a lower speed
AB 1669
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limit is warranted. These safety-related factors, as prescribed
by law, include accident data; highway, traffic, and roadway
conditions not readily apparent to the driver; residential
density; and pedestrian and bicyclist safety. Based on any of
these safety-related factors, Caltrans regulations allow a local
jurisdiction to reduce a speed limit by 5 MPH from the 85th
percentile.
In cases where the 85th percentile speed is not an increment of
5 MPH, the California MUTCD directs a jurisdiction to round to
the nearest 5 MPH increment. Thus, if the survey shows an 85th
percentile speed of 32 MPH, the jurisdiction must set the speed
limit at 30 MPH. The jurisdiction may then lower the speed
limit to 25 MPH if it identifies and documents a safety-related
factor. The jurisdiction cannot lower the speed limit by more
than 5 MPH, regardless of additional safety factors. In
instances where the jurisdiction should round up to reach the
nearest 5 MPH, the MUTCD allows the jurisdiction to instead
round down, but then the jurisdiction may not reduce the posted
speed limit by 5 MPH based on a safety-related factor.
This bill would allow Orange County, when conducting an
engineering and traffic study within the community of Orange
Park Acres, to consider equestrian safety. Orange Park is an
unincorporated community in Orange County that has an extensive
network of equestrian trails. Residents frequently travel
through the community by horse, often traversing the same roads
as vehicles. The community would like the county to consider
the safety of equestrian users in determining speed limits on
public roads within the community, but the county is currently
limited to considering only the safety-related listed in
statute.
Prior Legislation : AB 2402 (Rod Pacheco), Chapter 186, Statutes
of 2002, authorized the City of Norco, when conducting an
engineering and traffic survey, to consider equestrian safety in
addition to other factors required by law.
Proposed Amendment : On page 2, lines 4 and 8, delete the word
"City" and replace with "community."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
AB 1669
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Orange Park Association (sponsor)
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Anya Lawler / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093