After being contacted by citizens and/or neighborhoods, the Transportation Engineering Division will work to identify the details of the concerned area. When initiating a traffic study, specifically in excessive vehicular speed concerns, City engineers consider some of the following issues:
- Is the roadway posted adequately and appropriately with speed limit signs?
- Are the existing signs clearly visible?
- Are there any special roadway geometrics?
- What is the volume of vehicles that use this roadway each day?
- How fast are the vehicles actually traveling?
- Does the reported crash history show a pattern of excessive speed as a contributing factor?
The investigation of traffic concerns includes several methods of data collection, including:
- Field study
- Research of previous traffic studies
- Review of crash histories
- Collection of daily vehicle volumes and speeds
Based on the data, the City will initially conduct passive measures, such as increased police enforcement, additional traffic signs, pavement markings and/or speed display trailers. The area will be continually monitored to determine the effectiveness of these measures.
If the traffic problems persist after a reasonable amount of time, citizens can request to be entered into the Neighborhood Traffic Management Program. To do this, you will need to submit a request form and have it signed by ten (10) concerned citizens. Please email traffic.studies@cityoforlando.net for the form.
To coordinate efforts, a property owner within the neighborhood is requested to volunteer to act as the primary study contact who will coordinate the petition for the study, disseminate information about the process to neighbors and/or associations and can request the attendance of City staff at neighborhood meetings to generally discuss the Neighborhood Traffic Management Program and answer questions.
The feasibility study is initiated once priority is established. Either staff or a consultant will further identify:
- Specific traffic problems
- Develop a preliminary plan to show locations of proposed devices
- Determine the project's impact area
- Prepare maps
- Petition for pertinent documents
- and Prepare necessary presentation boards and/or materials
The traffic calming plan is presented to the traffic committee or neighborhood. Adjustment to the plan may be considered at this stage. Once an agreement has been made between the City and the traffic committee/neighborhood on the proposed plan, the committee is presented with copies of the plan, the official petition and property owner address information. Also, the proposed plan is circulated internally with the City (police, fire, solid waste, etc.) and external agencies (utilities, etc.) for review and comment.
Before the project can move forward, the City must receive a petition of support signed by 65% of the property owners within the designated impact area. Each parcel/address is entitled to one property owner signature. This petition is the responsibility of the traffic committee/neighborhood. The petition must be returned to the City within 180 days. Once returned with the required number of signatures, the proposed plan moves forward.
Final construction documents are prepared, reviewed and approved for future construction.
Commissioner (of the respective district) must approve the use of the appropriate district's neighborhood traffic management funds for construction of the traffic calming devices. Once authorized, the package of construction documents is prepared for transmittal to the contractor. The neighborhood contact person or committee is then notified the project has been approved and will move forward.
With the construction documents in hand, the contractor will supply the City with an estimated date range for the beginning of construction. The contractor will also provide the residents in the designated impact area with a letter explaining the estimated schedule and other construction details.
Typically 180 days after construction is complete, City staff evaluates the effects of the traffic calming project. If any unacceptable impacts are identified, corrective measures are taken.