MEMORANDUM

TO: Tim Navarre, Assembly President

Members, Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly

THRU: Dale Bagley, Mayor

FROM: Colette G. Thompson, Borough Attorney

Holly B. Montague, Asst. Borough Attorney

COPY: Gary Davis, Roads Director

DATE: January 24, 2002

SUBJECT: Speed sign amendment

Currently KPB 12.02.020 requires the RSA Board to view a request to alter a speed limit from the statutory limit at the next board meeting after the request is made. This may require the board to look at sign limit requests at every board meeting over the course of a year. It would be a more efficient use of board time if speed limit requests could be batched and presented at the same meeting. This would provide a basis of comparison for which roads should receive signage, require staff to prepare a single report regarding several requests, and generally be more efficient. Further, signs are not generally placed in the winter months making mandatory review of sign requests in the winter months unnecessary.

Residential roads are subject to a 25 mile per hour speed limit under state law. In order to alter this speed limit the municipality is required to perform a traffic and engineering study. Speed limit requests for a single road are often made by only one person. Performing traffic and engineering studies based on individual requests could become quite expensive. However, the board believes that if there is a number of requests to alter a speed limit for a single road an engineering study is warranted to determine whether the speed limit should be altered. The proposed amendment requires at least 70% of the parcel owners abutting a segment of road request an alternative speed limit and that there be at least 30 such lots total subject to the request. If the request meets this criteria the RSA will pay for the engineer to conduct a traffic investigation. The criteria was established to ensure that only roads receiving substantial traffic be subject to alternative speed limit requests.

The Board made the above recommendations to the Assembly at its January 8, 2002 meeting.