Title
Consider and take action on an Ordinance to set a 35 miles per hour (mph) speed limit along Ballpark Way between Calder Drive and Southbound Interstate Highway 45 Frontage Road, a distance of approximately 0.5 miles (Executive Director of Development Services)
Staff requests approval on first and final reading.
Background:
Approval of this item will set a 35 mph speed limit along Ballpark Way between Calder Drive and Southbound Interstate Highway 45 Frontage Road. Exhibit A shows an aerial view of the study corridor. Ball Park Way has been re-classified as a "Collector" roadway and as per Section 110-166 of the City's Code of Ordinances, a 35 mph speed limit should be used unless Council action designates otherwise. The existing speed limit on Ballpark Way between Calder Drive and Southbound IH 45 Frontage Road is 25 mph.
A speed zone study was performed to evaluate the existing speed limit on Ballpark Way between Calder Drive and Southbound Interstate Highway 45 Frontage Road. Data collection for the speed zone study included site investigation, traffic volume and spot speed data (provided in Exhibit B) and crash data (provided in Exhibit C).
The 11th edition of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Official’s (AASHTO) A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets guidelines recommend using the 85th percentile speed as a starting point for setting speed limits. The average 85th percentile speed on the study corridor was estimated to be 41 mph based on the spot speed data collected. Since the posted speed limit on Ballpark Way (25 mph) is lower than the 85th percentile speed (41 mph) and there are not other factors that should be considered to keep the speed limit at a lower rate (such as line of sight issues), it is recommended to increase the speed limit to 35 mph to reduce the dispersion of driver speeds along the study corridor.
City of League City Major Thoroughfare Plan (2018) designates Ballpark Way as a collect...
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