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The procedures for the City of Santa Fe Neighborhood Traffic Management Program (NTMP) include four components: Eligibility and Ranking, Plan Development, Plan Approval and Implementation, and Project Evahiation. These components are outlined below.  

ELIGIBILITY AND RANKING

Upon receiving a complete application package including the required petition of support, staff evaluates the eligibility of the proposed project. The eligibility is determined according to the following point system.

Eligibility Criteria - Local Street Projects
The first type of NTMP project is the Local Street Project. This type of project focuses on the treatment of a neighborhood street that is experiencing traffic problems. The street must be designated as a local street on the adopted Functional Road Classification (FRC) Map of the City of Santa Fe. Generally a Local Street Project should consist of treatment of a single local street. If the basic criteria discussed above are met then the proposed street is studied and scored based on the criteria described in Table 1.

Table 1 - Eligibility Criteria for Local Street Projects

Criteria	Points	Basis for Point Assignment
Volumes	0 to 30	Measure of Vehicles Per Day (vpd): 0-5OO vpd = 0 pts.; 501-750 vpd = 10pts.; 751-l000vpd = 20pts.; over 1001 vpd = 30 pts.
Cut-through traffic	0 to 25	Measure of Percent by which cut-through traffic exceeds local traffic (%): 0-25% = 0; 26-50% = 5 pts.; 51%-100% = 15 pts.; above 100% = 25 pts.
Speeds	0 to 45	Measure of Miles Per Hour by which the 85th percentile speed exceeds the posted speed limit (mph): 0-5 mph = 0pts.; 6-10 mph = 15 pts.; 11-15 mph = 30 pts.; over l5mph = 45pts.
Total Eligibility Points Possible	100

The street must receive a minimum score of 40 points in order to be eligible for a Local Street Project.

Eligibility Criteria - Complex Traffic Management Projects
The second type of NTMP project is the Complex Traffic Management Project. These projects consist of traffic management on collector and minor arterial streets or, in some cases, on local streets that because of other factors are placed into the complex street category. Complex traffic management projects will consider streets that are emergency response routes or priority snow removal routes (as designated on the city's Emergency Response Route and Snow Removal Maps contained in the appendices of this document), or which result in a significant diversion of traffic, and will look at a variety of possible treatments for the street. Because treatment of collectors and minor arterials may cause diversion of traffic onto surrounding streets, the project will entail a more detailed study of the street network throughout the neighborhood. The complex project may look at other issues along the street such as access points, enhancment of pedestrian facilities, median treatments, and others.

Following are the basic criteria for a Complex Traffic Management Project:

• The street must be designated as a collector or minor arterial street on the adopted Functional Road Classification Map of the City of Santa Fe, or, if classified as a local street, it it must meet the special condition's described above, such as designation as an emergency response route or priority snow removal road.
  
  
• A minor arterial street must have a minimum AAWT volume of 2,000 vehicles per day.
  A collector street must have a minimum AAWT volume of 1,000 vehicles per day.
• Local streets moved into the Complex Traffic Management Project track will be treated as collector streets in the scoring and ranking process.

• The assessment of the traffic-related problems and needs in the project area.
• The identification of the goals and objectives of the community in solving those problems.
• The development of alternative plans and solutions to be considered.
• The selection of the preferred plan solution.

• An initial open house is held in the neighborhood to discuss traffic-related concerns in the project area and possible solutions. Notice is given to property-owners and residents in the project area; to residents and businesses throughout the larger neighborhood; and to any other groups or institutions in the immediate area, including schools, churches and neighborhood associations.

• At this time, a Citizen Traffic Committee is formed for the project that will work with Traffic Division staff throughout the planning and implementation of the project.

• Next, staff and the Citizen Traffic Committee develop plan alternatives based on the studies that have been completed, the information that has been gathered from the neighborhood, and on sound engineering practices. The plan alternatives undergo review by several city departments.

• When the plan alternatives have been reviewed by the city, and revised as appropriate by the Citizen Traffic Committee and staff, a second community meeting is held for the community to review the alternatives and to decide upon a preferred plan.

• Because of the complex nature of the project, Traffic Division staff completes a series of traffic studies and analyses in the project area that goes beyond the studies done in the eligiblity and ranking phase.

• An open house is then held in the neighborhood to present the information gathered and to discuss traffic-related concerns in the project area and possible solutions. Notice is given to property-owners and residents in the project area; to residents and businesses throughout the larger neighborhood; and to any other groups or institutions in the immediate area, including schools, churches and neighborhood associations.

• At this time, a Citizen Traffic Committee is formed for the project that will work with Traffic Division staff throughout the planning and implementation of the project.

• Staff and the Citizen Traffic Committee then develop plan alternatives based on the studies that have been completed, the information that has been gathered from the neighborhood, and on sound engineering practices. The plan alternatives undergo review by several city departments.

• When the plan alternatives have been reviewed by the city, and revised as appropriate by the Citizen Traffic Committee and staff, a second community meeting is held for review and comment on the proposed alternatives.

• Staff and the Citizen Traffic Committee further refine the plan alternatives. The revised plan alternatives may undergo additional review by various city departments depending on the nature of any changes to the plan alternatives.

• When the plan alternatives have been reviewed by the city, and revised as appropriate by the Citizen Traffic Committee and staff, a third public meeting is held for the community to review the alternatives and to decide upon a preferred plan.

• If the survey process demonstrates adequate support for the preferred plan altemative, staff will proceed with implementation of the traffic management plan.

• Plan approval by the city governing body is not required for implementation of Local Street Projects. However all applicable policies and rules of the city must be followed in implementing the preferred plan.

• Implementation of a Local Street Project consists of installation of permanent devices on the subject street.

• Prior to installation, traffic studies must occur on streets throughout the project area to determine "before" conditions in the area, which will be compared to studies taken later in the evaluation phase.

• If the survey process demonstrates adequate support for the preferred plan alternative for a Complex Traffic Management Project, approval of the project by the city governing body may still be required to secure funding needed for implementation of the project. In addition, all applicable policies and rules of the city must be followed in implementing the solution.

• Approval is for either test installation (temporary devices) or final installation permanent devices) in the project area depending on the implementation process outlined in the traffic management plan.
  
  
• Prior to installation, traffic studies must occur on streets throughout the project area to determine "before" conditions in the area, which will be compared to studies taken later in the evaluation phase.

For all projects, an evaluation of the traffic devices is to be performed six months to twelve months after installation. This evaluation will include appropriate studies, such as volume, speed, etc., on the subject street(s) to determine the effectiveness of the devices.

An important aspect of the evaluation of all NTMP projects is related to the impact of unintended, rerouted traffic onto other neighborhood streets. It is important not to divert traffic from one local street to another. NTMP Policy #3 states that "the amount of rerouted traffic that is acceptable will be defined on a project-by-project basis by the Citizen Traffic Committee for that project and city staff. Generally, adjacent local streets should not receive an increase of more than 250 vehicles per day or an increase in traffic greater than 50%, whichever is less."

For all NTMP projects, studies will be undertaken in and around the project area in the Project Evaluation phase to measure any impacts on the surrounding area. If staff determines that "after" conditions on other streets in the area show a high level of traffic diversion as a result of the traffic management project, the city will explore methods for addressing those diversion problems. NTMP Policy #3 states that "If adjacent streets receive higher than acceptable levels of rerouted traffic, additional studies will be undertaken by staff in order to consider possible mitigation of those impacts."

Project Evaluation - Local Street Projects

• A survey of the residents and property-owners in the project area may be conducted by city staff after the evaluation period to determine if some aspect of the installation no longer meets the needs of a neighborhood. If 75% of the people surveyed agree that a device or devices no longer meet the needs of the neighborhood, staff will review the performance of these devices and will estimate the cost of mitigating, revising or removing these devices.

Project Evaluation - Complex Traffic Management Projects

• Temporary traffic management devices may be used to determine if permanent installation is warranted or if some adjustment to the temporary devices is needed.
  
  
• A public meeting may be held to discuss the effectiveness of the temporary devices with local citizens in order to determine public response to the devices. If this seems to indicate that the devices are meeting the goals of the neighborhood, as outlined in the traffic management plan, some or all of the devices may be installed permanently.
  
  
• However, if this seems to indicate that the devices installed no longer meet the needs of the neighborhood, an additional survey process may occur. As above, this survey will be of residents and property-owners who were surveyed for initial approval of the traffic management plan. If 75% of the people surveyed agree that a device or devices no longer meet the needs of the neighborhood, staff will review the performance of these devices and will estimate the cost of mitigating, revising or removing these devices.

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Last update 14 July 2000 - HvH