So… there
has been a running community conversation taking place on social media
regarding our traffic and the possible cause and affect it has on public
safety. As such my curiosity was piqued
to actually explore the data from years 2013- current to determine the
difference, if any, between perception and reality.
This led me
to reach out to Chuck Ross, as head of our Crime Watch for his input, and also
to new Police Chief Nick Wollschlager for the actual traffic statistics. My thanks
to both of them in helping put this report together.
Based on
this topic, there were 4 speed surveys conducted between May 16 -
May 31 at the location of NE 116/117St. and 11 Pl. Here are the results:
Speed Survey #1- 5/16/17 8:15am- 8:42am
7 total cars
surveyed.
High speed=
27mph
Low speed=
13 mph
All others=
low-middle 20mph range
Speed Survey #2- 5/16/17 4:56pm- 5:31pm
20 total
cars surveyed.
High speed=
29mph (X2)
Low speed=
15mph
All others= (4)
under 20mph- remaining = mid-high 20mph range
Speed Survey #3- 5/20/17 11:13am- 11:55am
18 total
cars surveyed.
High speed=
28mph
Low speed=
12mph (X2)
All others= (3)
under 20mph- (2) at 20mph- remaining = mid 20mph range
Speed Survey #4- 5/31/17 8:20am – 9:10am
19 total
cars surveyed.
High speed=
30 mph
Low speed=
14 mph (x2)
All others=
(7) under 20mph- remaining= low-high 20mph range
Conclusion: You can all determine for yourselves
the conclusion based on the data
BP Traffic Crash Data
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 thru May
Total Reported 11 16 19 24 7
Incident: Crash (minor) 4 3 8 4 2
Crash: (general)
5 12 11 19 5
Injuries: 0 1 (car vs.
house) 2 (minor) 6 (2 minor-4 general) 1 (minor)
Pedestrian Injuries: 0
0 0 0 0
2013 Locations: (4) NE 6th Ave. [36.3%]
(3) Griffing Blvd. [27%] (1) NE 119 St. (1) NE 9th Ave. (1) NE 8th
Ave. (1) NE 118 St.
2014 Locations: (9) NE 6th Ave. [37.5%]
(2) Griffing Blvd. (1) NE 7th St. (1) NE 113 St. (1) NE 119 St. (1)
NE 117 St. (1) NE 8th Ave.
2015 Locations: (8) NE 6th Ave. [42%] (6)
Griffing Blvd. [32%] (1) NE 8th Ave. (1) 9th Ave. (1) NE
11 Pl. (1) NE 121 St. (1) NE 9th Ct.
2016 Locations: (12) NE 6th Ave. [50%]
(4) Griffing Blvd. (2) 8th Ave. (2) NE 9th Ave. (1) 118
St. (1) 119 St. (1) 7th Ave. (1) NE 11 Pl.
2017 Locations: (5) NE 6th Ave. [71.4%]
(1) Griffing Blvd. (1) 121 St. Village side
SUMMARY: The majority of actual traffic
crashes are taking place on NE 6th Ave. [52%] followed by Griffing
Blvd. [22%] –our State and County roads. As for our interior streets, there is
no obvious pattern to suggest that the crash data is anything other than
random. Based on the actual traffic statistics as evidenced, there is no
correlation between our traffic patterns and a public safety hazard/pedestrian
concern. However, this is not to suggest that we do not have some speeding,
running/rolling through stop signs and or other traffic infractions taking
place within the Village. We do.
But the
purpose of this report is to illustrate the actual results and to differentiate
between the perception and reality as voiced by some in our community.
SAFETY TIP: Always walk towards oncoming traffic
and yield the right of way to vehicles. We have narrow roads and testing a
moving automobile is never a sensible idea.
[Chuck Ross]
There has been a lot of discussion about speeding in BP and pedestrian safety. In conjunction with this traffic calming ideas have been tossed around such as street closures, speed bumps/humps, traffic circles and lowering the speed limit to 20 MPH.
There has been a lot of discussion about speeding in BP and pedestrian safety. In conjunction with this traffic calming ideas have been tossed around such as street closures, speed bumps/humps, traffic circles and lowering the speed limit to 20 MPH.
Setting aside the
merits of these ideas for the moment we need to understand what is required to
accomplish the implementation of these ideas.
Street Closures:
My understanding is
that street closures are highly unlikely to succeed, the County has adopted a
policy that street closures are to be used as a last resort.
Lowering the speed
Limit and traffic devices such as speed bumps/humps and traffic circles or
roundabouts:
To install speed
bumps and traffic circles (Devices) there are specific procedures required and
a number of criteria to be met. In the past, we had two Traffic Studies
in '05 and '08 that I am aware of that indicated there are very few areas of
the Village these devices would meet the criteria to be installed.
Traffic circles can be very expensive, for example North Miami recently installed
one just north of BP on 11th Ave. The cost was approx. $150K, this
includes construction engineering and design. Speed bumps require, among
other things, that 2/3 of the property owners in the vicinity consent to the
installation, a certain volume of traffic, 15% of the traffic is speeding 10
MPH over the speed limit and it is a local street.
I have noted that
the cost of speed bumps including installation depending on the type varies and
seems to be a few thousand each for our purposes in BP.
Lowering the speed
limit likewise requires a traffic study, and requires among other things that
the speed limit be within a certain range of the 85th percentile of traffic
speeds on local streets. This is
called the natural speed limit according to a Municipal Traffic expert I spoke
to. Studies have determined that if the speed limit differs greatly from the
natural speed limit it is more likely to cause an increase in accidents.
So, simply lowering the speed limit (as was suggested at the last Commission
meeting) without a study is not possible.
The traffic study is what determines
if the Village would qualify for traffic calming techniques described here and
above and the last full comprehensive traffic study conducted in BP I believe
was approximately $50K, that was over ten years ago. Miami Shores recently conducted a
comprehensive traffic study last year that cost $87K.
There are steps
that we can take now without the cost of a study. For example, we can
repaint the stop bars, paint virtual speed bumps and install speed warning
signs (The cost can vary significantly based on the type of sign.)
However,
based on the above info, the best solution in BP is to rely on increased
enforcement by our police- and our new Chief has pledged to do so.
Unfortunately, the police force has been short at least two FT positions and
the reserve force has diminished over the past two years or so as well.
Chief Wollschlager has been actively recruiting both FT officers and Reserves
and a combination of Five FT and Reserve positions have been added so far, this
year. It takes time to get back up to speed but from what I have
witnessed we are well on our way to doing so.
My thanks
again to Chuck and Chief Nick Wollschlager for their input and assistance in
putting this together for you.
Standing
Watch,
Milton
Hunter
The Biscayne Parker
