BP Traffic and Accident Report

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 6^th Ave. [36.3%] (3) Griffing Blvd. [27%] (1) NE 119 St. (1) NE 9^th Ave. (1) NE 8^th Ave. (1) NE 118 St.

2014 Locations: (9) NE 6^th Ave. [37.5%] (2) Griffing Blvd. (1) NE 7^th St. (1) NE 113 St. (1) NE 119 St. (1) NE 117 St. (1) NE 8^th Ave.

2015 Locations: (8) NE 6^th Ave. [42%] (6) Griffing Blvd. [32%] (1) NE 8^th Ave. (1) 9^th Ave. (1) NE 11 Pl. (1) NE 121 St. (1) NE 9^th Ct.

2016 Locations: (12) NE 6^th Ave. [50%] (4) Griffing Blvd. (2) 8^th Ave. (2) NE 9^th Ave. (1) 118 St. (1) 119 St. (1) 7^th Ave. (1) NE 11 Pl.

2017 Locations: (5) NE 6^th Ave. [71.4%] (1) Griffing Blvd. (1) 121 St. Village side

SUMMARY: The majority of actual traffic crashes are taking place on NE 6^th 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.  

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