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What is neighborhood traffic calming?
"Neighborhood traffic" is a general term referring to any traffic on local residential streets. As population and employment in the City of Santa Fe have grown over the years our streets have experienced increases in traffic, and neighborhood groups and residents have become increasingly concerned about the effects of traffic. As a result calming or managing traffic in residential areas has become a common goal of many residents.

On local residential streets, a vision is now being promoted that motorists should be guests and behave accordingly. These streets are not intended to carry large amounts of non-residential traffic. Adverse traffic conditions on these streets can greatly affect neighborhood livability. If traffic impacts occur on a regular basis, the quality of life in the neighborhood can deteriorate. To maintain a high quality of life, Santa Fe's local residential streets should be protected from the negative impacts of traffic.

Neighborhood traffic calming is the development of an approach to manage traffic and improve neighborhood safety and livability for neighborhoods experiencing traffic impacts. To be successful, approaches will differ for each neighborhood in order to best solve the particular traffic impacts in that area. Any approach to neighborhood traffic calming must involve the public in the planning and design of the project. This allows residents to evaluate the options available to them, to discuss the benefits and trade-offs of project proposals in their neighborhood, and to be actively involved in the decision-making process.

In addition to local residential streets, collector and minor arterial streets in some neighborhoods may experience traffic impacts that can be mitigated through neighborhood traffic calming techniques.

What are the three "E"s in dealing with neighborhood traffic?
Dealing comprehensively with neighborhood traffic issues requires the use of various techniques, which generally fall under the categories of Engineering and planning, Enforcement and Education. Engineering and planning encompasses both traditional traffic calming measures as well as newer approaches, such as traffic calming, which, according to the Institute of Transportation Engineers, is defined as the "combination of mainly physical measures that reduce the negative effects of motor vehicle use, alter driver behavior and improve conditions for non-motorized street users". Enforcement enlists the assistance of the Police Department to focus enforcement efforts in project areas. Education provides information to people about how they as motorists can help to ease traffic impacts through changes in behavior and attitudes, and informs them about neighborhood traffic calming activities and opportunities. All three are important components in dealing effectively with neighborhood and community-wide traffic issues.

How was the Traffic Calming Program (TCP) established?
The 1999 City of Santa Fe General Plan supports the city's efforts to develop traffic calming standards, and to "discourage speeding and cut-through traffic through neighborhoods by installing appropriate traffic control and calming measures, such as bulbing sidewalks at intersections and narrower street widths, without limiting through streets." (General Plan Policies 6-1-1-9, 6-1-1-11)

Prior to adoption of the General Plan, the City Council in February of 1998 adopted Resolution 1998-12 calling for the establishment of a Neighborhood Traffic Management Program in Santa Fe. The council recognized that traffic was negatively impacting both safety and quality-of-life in the neighborhoods. Residents had requested that the city use traffic calming measures to slow speeding traffic and divert non-local traffic from neighborhood streets in order to make the neighborhoods more livable, quieter, and pedestrian-oriented. The council wanted to address these concerns while continuing to protect the health, safety, and welfare of all Santa Fe's citizens and visitors.

The council appointed a task force to study appropriate methods for the reduction of cut-through traffic, speeding traffic and other undesirable motoring behaviors in residential areas, and to develop a program for implementation of these methods. In (???2000) the Santa Fe Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program (TCP) was approved by the City Council and initiated within the Traffic Division of the City Public Works Department.

How does the Traffic Calming Program work?
The TCP provides tools that can deal with traffic that negatively impacts neighborhood livability. At the neighborhood's initiative, city staff studies the nature of the traffic concern in the proposed area and assesses the eligibility of the proposed project for the TCP. If the project is eligible, it is ranked with other eligible projects according to specific ranking criteria. For projects that are prioritized, residents and city staff then become involved in developing a neighborhood traffic calming plan that will address the traffic problems specific to the project street or area.

The TCP provides a framework for residents of a neighborhood to examine the traffic patterns in their area and to choose alternatives which can achieve community acceptance. The TCP attempts to find a balance between recognizing the many uses and needs of the residential neighborhood and allowing residents to feel safe and secure in their neighborhood.

This program does not necessarily provide a simple solution for every neighborhood traffic concern. In some cases the traffic concerns are complicated and may have developed over a long period of time. There are other methods outside the TCP that the City Traffic Division and other city departments can use to address other traffic issues.

What projects are covered by the Traffic Calming Program?
There are two types of projects in the TCP: Local Street Projects and Complex Traffic Calming Projects.

Local Street Projects are projects that deal with traffic problems on residential streets classified as "local" streets on the city's Functional Road Classification (FRC) Map (Appendix A). These small-scale projects cover an area that is limited to the properties adjacent to the targeted street. The planning time and cost involved in a Local Street Project is usually less than what is required for more complex projects. These projects are funded through the recurring traffic calming budget of the City's Public Works Department.

Complex Traffic Calming Projects are projects dealing with traffic impacts on residential streets classified as "collector" or "minor arterial" streets on the FRC map. These projects may deal with one or more streets, or, as treatment of these streets may cause diversion of traffic, an entire neighborhood. They may include emergency response routes or snow removal roads, and may look at other issues such as access points, enhancement of pedestrian facilities, and the installation of more extensive physical modifications than those used in a Local Street Project.

The City of Santa Fe is committed to developing effective approaches to managing neighborhood traffic within the resources that are available. Neighborhood involvement is a key component in all aspects of the TCP.

How does a neighborhood start a Traffic Calming Program project?
Anyone residing or owning property within a neighborhood is eligible to apply for an TCP project for a local, collector, or minor arterial street(s) within that area.

• The first step is to schedule a pre-application meeting with a staff member from the City Traffic Division to discuss the area in question and the TCP process, including the initial petition process that the applicant must complete. Staff provides a packet of TCP program information, including application and petition forms.
  
• The applicant then circulates a petition in the identified project area in order to demonstrate that at least 30% of residents and property-owners support initiation of a traffic calming project. The applicant must obtain the necessary signatures, complete the application materials, and return everything to the Traffic Division.
  
• The eligibility and ranking of the project is then studied by Traffic Division staff. Traffic studies are done to determine if the street or project area meet the minimum eligibility requirements for inclusion in the TCP. If a project is eligible, further studies are done to determine the priority and ranking of the project in relation to other eligible projects that have been submitted to the TCP. Staff notifies the applicant about the status of the proposed project. If the project is ranked as a priority it moves to the plan development phase, which is outlined in the Procedures section of this document.

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Last update 18 September 2000 - HvH