Traffic Calming Measures

About Sacramento

The city of Sacramento is the capital of the state of California. Sacramento is located on the northern part of the Central Valley and on the west side of Sierra Mountains. The Sacramento River runs on the west side of the city, where the American River flows from the east, dividing the city in half. The American River joins the Sacramento River in Discovery Park near downtown.

Sacramento’s population is close to 500,000, making it the sixth largest in California and 35th in the nation. The Sacramento Metropolitan Area is considered the fourth largest in California, after the Greater Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Area, and San Diego Metropolitan Areas.

The city is about 100 square miles in area, consisting of 97.81% land and 2.19% water. Sacramento is the largest city within Sacramento County, one of 52 counties in California. The city was established in 1849, months before California became the 31st state of the Union.

Now, there are eight districts within Sacramento. The City of Sacramento’s government is comprised of eight elected Council Members (one from each district) and an elected mayor. Day-to-day operations of the City is the job of the City Manager, who oversees 11 departments, including the Department of Public Works.

Parking Service, Maintenance, Engineering, Projects, and Transportation are divisions within the Department of Public Works. Traffic Engineering, among a few other groups, operates as part of the Transportation Division.

The Transportation Division’s many programs revolve around promoting traffic safety, enhancing traffic operations and improving neighborhood livability. The Division’s programs and services include: Traffic Calming, Speed Humps, Traffic Signals, Red Light Running, Angled Parking, Bikeways, Pedestrians, School Safety, Traffic Investigations, Traffic Studies, and Signs & Markings.

About NTMP

City of Sacramento started its traffic calming program in the 1990s, called the Neighborhood Traffic Management Program, or NTMP. This program was managed under Traffic Engineering, and was inspired by similar efforts in larger cities like Seattle and Port-land. Sacramento’s NTMP became one of the most active and well-known groups of its kind in the United States. The processes that NTMP established, and many of its innovative engineering designs, were copied by many other cities and engineering firms in the nation. NTMP as a program was dissolved in around 2014, but the City’s efforts and commitment to traffic calming continue in different formats and programs.

During its time, NTMP worked on nearly 120 neighborhoods within the eight districts. NTMP, along with the help and input from the residents themselves, developed specific plans for each neighborhood, secured funding and approval from City Council, and implemented each plan, usually within two years from start to finish.

NTMP Process

In short, here’s the process for how NTMP worked for the residents of Sacramento:

•At least ten residents would sign a request to be considered for traffic calming.

•City staff (NTMP) would refine and establish the neighborhood boundaries for the program.

•NTMP would put the neighborhood on a priority list and notify requesters of the status.

•Depending on availability of funds, ranking and workload, the neighborhood would be selected.

•NTMP would invite all the residents for a community-wide “kick-off” meeting, where the NTMP program would be presented to the attendees, questions and concerns answered and noted, and requests for volunteers for a Traffic Calming Committee made by NTMP.

•Once the Traffic Calming Committee was formed, they would attend a traffic calming class presented by NTMP, and the process of identifying the traffic issues in the neighborhood would begin. The committee members would meet with a member of NTMP once a month to discuss their issues and remedies.

•NTMP staff would conduct various traffic studies for the neighborhood, and create maps, charts and reports to help the committee form a viable plan.

•The plan would be presented to all the residents of the neighborhood for their vote, via mail. Once residents approved the plan, staff would present the plan to City Council for their approval. If City Council approved, then the plan would be put to action for implementation.

•After implementation, studies would be conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the traffic calming measures.

About Traffic Calming

Traffic calming is the use of physical design and other measures to improve safety for pedestrians and motorists. The overall goal is to encourage safer and more responsible driving. There are many methods, measures and tools available to work toward this goal.

When it comes to the subject of traffic calming, we often hear about the “three E’s.” To best achieve calmer and safer traffic conditions, all three E’s must be addressed. The first E stands for Engineering, which is for good engineering and design to mitigate traffic issues. The second E is for Education, which is the need for educating the public (motorists, pedestrians, and cyclists alike) to understand traffic laws and regulations, and safer behavior in regard to traffic. The third E stands for Enforcement, which is for law enforcement presence and enforcement of traffic laws.

Most local and state jurisdictions have traffic calming programs in one form or another. Some cities concentrate most of their traffic calming efforts toward neighborhoods.