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<br /> <br />Department was about and how they served the public. He indicated he looked forward to <br />serving with this group. <br /> <br />Vice Chair Wagner welcomed Commissioner Stout to the Public Safety Commission. <br /> <br />B. New Brighton Speed Limit Evaluation – DCAD Director Craig Schlichting <br /> <br />Director Paetznick stated DCAD Director Schlichting had a presentation for the Commission <br />regarding speed limits in residential neighbors. <br /> <br />DCAD Director Schlichting provided a general background on speed limits and then <br />reviewed data from the City of New Brighton. He stated speed limits are used to set a legal <br />minimum and maximum for vehicles traveling on a roadway. He reported the 85th percentile <br />speed is defined as the speed at or below which 85 percent of the vehicles are observed to <br />travel under free-flowing conditions past a monitored point. It was noted setting speed limits <br />lower than the 85th percentile speed does not encourage compliance with the posted speed <br />limit. The interstates and arterial roadways running through New Brighton were discussed <br />along with the posted speed limits. He reported all local streets were 30 miles per hour except <br />for portions of County Road E and County Road D (35 miles per hour). He explained <br />residents regularly express concern about speeding in their neighborhoods as this affects their <br />quality of life. He reviewed the number of accidents that have occurred in the community <br />over the past seven years stating the majority have occurred along Silver Lake Road and 8th <br />Street. He commented further on how drivers select their speed based on roadway <br />conditions. He discussed the communities that have migrated to 25 miles per hour for local <br />streets, which included Minneapolis, St. Paul, Edina, Arden Hills and St. Anthony. He <br />described how the Public Safety Department educates and enforces the City’s speed limits. <br />He ended his presentation with several things to think about which were: the City needs to <br />protect its most vulnerable users (pedestrians and bicyclists), to understand that accidents <br />will happen but crash severity and risk of serious injury decreases with lower speeds, <br />roadway design affects posted speeds, lower speed limits don’t reduce speeds, lower speeds <br />on roads that can support both pedestrians and vehicles may make reasonable people non-law <br />abiding citizens, and without all cities adopting the same speed limit, there would be no <br />uniformity and this could cause confusion for drivers. <br /> <br />Discussion included: <br /> The Commission was curious as to how lower speed limits would detour traffic <br />through the community and questioned if there was data on how lower speed limits <br />were impacting communities. DCAD Director Schlichting stated it was too early for <br />staff to have data on this topic. <br /> The Commission asked if the City could set the speed limit on county roads. DCAD <br />Director Schlichting reported staff was proposing to adjust the speed limit on local <br />roads only. <br /> The Commission inquired how many requests the City has received to lower speed <br />limits throughout the community. DCAD Director Schlichting noted most requests <br />suggest there is a speeding problem in the community versus asking for lower speed <br />limits. <br /> The Commission questioned how the City would approach a change to the speed <br />limit. Director Paetznick detailed the educational based approach the department <br />takes towards enforcing speed limits. He noted if a change was made to the speed