Last week the Poway City Council unanimously approved implementing new traffic calming measures on Midland Road at the recommendation of the city’s Traffic Safety Committee.
Staff conducted an engineering study in response to resident concerns at the May 10 Traffic Safety Committee, along with a petition presented to the city requesting traffic calming measures along Midland Road from Edgemoor Street to Hilleary Place.
Final recommendations were presented at a Traffic Safety Committee meeting in August, and received positive feedback from the community members in attendance. The improvements focus on four sections of Midland Road, from Putney Road to Norwalk Street, and include more visible signage, push button flashing pedestrian signs, a solar power LED vehicle speed feedback sign, and additional enforcement for speed related issues.
Council members agreed that the improvements focus on the key issue of pedestrian safety and requested that staff return to council a year after the safety features are implemented to evaluate the improvements and ensure the city is meeting the desired goals.
“I think there could be more to the conversation if we’re not reaching the goals,” said Councilmember Caylin Frank, “but this is where we need to start, and we need to see how the community responds.”
One of the suggestions from the public that was not implemented to reduce the speed limit in the section of Midland Road that is 35 miles per hour. Currently, municipalities cannot enforce a speed limit lower than the calculated level set by the state – the formula is based on the 85th percentile of speed in a traffic study. Mayor Steve Vaus said a new law next year will give Poway the ability to reduce speed limits below the 85th percentile formula in residential and business zones and that could be reviewed as part of the one-year evaluation.
Read the Midland Road Safety Improvements agenda report.