BROOKINGS – The vote to raise the speed limit on a stretch of 20th Street South failed 4-3 at Tuesday night’s Brookings City Council meeting. 

Voting to raise the speed limit to 35 mph were Mayor Keith Corbett and councilors Ope Niemeyer and Leah Brink. Voting to keep it at 25 mph were councilors Joey Collins, Holly Tilton Byrne, Nick Wendell and Patty Bacon.

Background

During the first reading of Ordinance 21-004 on Feb. 9, the council discussed raising the speed limit from 25 mph to 35 mph, the speed studies that were done by the city’s Engineering Department, and the fact there is a new apartment complex on that street that was not occupied when the speed studies were done. 

City Engineer Jackie Lanning said the street construction on 20th Street South was completed in 2020 with a widened roadway, concrete shared-use path and street lights to enhance traffic and pedestrian safety. The speed limit on 20th Street South, west of Main Avenue South, was originally set at 35 mph. In 2015, the speed limit was lowered to 25 mph on 20th Street South between Western Avenue South and Main Avenue South. 

After the street reconstruction was completed, the Engineering Department performed speed studies on the segment between Western Avenue South and Main Avenue South in September and October 2020, she said. The study showed the 85th percentile was 36 mph for the eastbound direction and 37 mph for the westbound direction. Staff recommended changing the speed limit to 35 mph between Western Avenue South and Main Avenue South. 

Since then the apartment complex opened, so her department put the radar camera on the location just west of Main Avenue, Lanning said.

She displayed a graphic showing the total number of vehicles during September/October 2020 between Council Ridge and Half Moon was 2,520, with the eastbound traffic averaging 36 mph and the westbound traffic averaging 37 mph. A total of 19% of vehicles would have been speeding if the speed limit would have been 35 mph.

A study done in later October west of Western Avenue found a total of 1,267 vehicles with the eastbound traffic averaging 37 mph and the westbound traffic averaging 39 mph, Lanning said. A total of 28% of vehicles would have been speeding if the speed limit would have been 35 mph.

The study done in February 2021 on the 300 feet west of Main found a total of 2,148 vehicles with the eastbound traffic averaging 35 mph and the westbound traffic averaging 37 mph, Lanning said. A total of 20% of vehicles would have been speeding if the speed limit would have been 35 mph.

“Most people are already driving near that 35 mph, whether it’s signed 25 mph or not,” Lanning said in conclusion.

Public comment

“You’re saying if people are comfortable with driving 10 mph over the speed limit roughly, it’s OK. And so if I want to drive down, say 22nd Avenue at 45 mph because I’m comfortable for doing that, is that OK, too?” Bradley Walker asked.

“To me, what you should do is just put a police officer in that 25 mph zone and start writing tickets. You want to increase revenue for the city, that’s a good way to do it,” Walker said.

The number of vehicles, especially as the apartment complex fills up, “would justify the lower speed limit,” Walker said.

“Instead of raising the speed limit, why don’t you enforce the current speed limit that’s already there?” Walker asked.

City Manager Paul Briseno said it was a common question from the community.

Different streets have different speed limits, Briseno explained.

“The reality is we engineer streets for people to safely drive at certain speeds,” Briseno said.

There are different kinds of streets: collector, arterial, and neighborhood streets, all of which have different speed limits, he said.

He said 20th Street South has been engineered for vehicles to be driven at 35 mph, so people feel comfortable driving 35 mph and it’s safe for them to do that.

Council comments

Tilton Byrne asked if a radar sign had been installed to let drivers know how fast they are going.

Not since the re-opening after construction, Police Chief Dave Erickson said.

Tilton Byrne recommended putting a radar sign in that section to encourage people to drive the actual limit that’s posted.

Wendell said he agreed with Walker; it’s not good to let drivers set speed limits according to the speed they’re driving. There is a science to setting speed limits, like Briseno explained, Wendell said, but this street is an outlier due to its location and features.

It’s a spine between two residential neighborhoods, Wendell pointed out, adding he’s concerned about raising the speed limit on this stretch.

Niemeyer said he had talked to Erickson about any issues, including the student crosswalk, then asked Erickson to go into detail for the council.

There are two pedestrian crosswalk warning signs for eastbound traffic as you crest a hill on 20th, Erickson said. The hill is now lower than before construction, and there isn’t as much of a blind spot as there was. As drivers driving 35 mph crest the hill, there is sufficient time to stop for pedestrians, he said.

Niemeyer wanted flashing lights on the crosswalk signs, “just as an attention-getter to remind people that there might be children walking across.”

There are two different types of blinking signs, Lanning said. The yellow diamond blinks 24 hours, costs about $3,000 per intersection and are solar-powered. Another sign has a button that can be pushed to make it blink, but those cost about $20,000 to $30,000, she said.

Briseno said the city can continue to monitor the area and do studies.

Bacon asked if the school zone had been closely monitored and whether the city knows how much pedestrian traffic crosses the street.

“We haven’t done a pedestrian count on that crosswalk since the street had opened,” Lanning said, adding they do have radars and cameras they can employ.

“My concern is I don’t even want that one child to get hit because somebody was going too fast and not paying attention to the fact they were coming into a school zone,” Bacon said. “I’d rather spend the money on a flashing sign if that could increase the odds of safety in that area.”

Collins said he’d gone back and forth on the issue and got some emails that settled his decision.

“I’m really concerned about the crosswalk there and the speed that cars are going. I don’t want anybody to get hurt,” he said.

There haven’t been any accidents, Erickson confirmed when asked.

A lot of houses are going up and will continue to go up, “so my concern is the safety,” Collins said, adding he’d like lights put up on the crosswalk.

Brink said the only way to make it 100% safe was “for nobody to do it ever.”

“Every amount of driving is some level of risk, so we have to balance those risks,” she said. 

It’s helpful to be able to discuss all the data they’ve been given, Brink said, adding she’s lived in that area and understands the traffic patterns. 

“I feel like staff recommended it, they have reasons that they articulated, it’s consistent with our strategy, (it) passed the safety committee, and it’s consistent with the road in that area,” Brink said.

After the vote

After Ordinance 21-004 failed, Briseno said staff might have to bring this back to council for discussion.

“We just spent quite a bit of money on upgrading this street and this street design was created to go 35. And so if council has a desire to slow speeds in neighborhoods – which is great, if that’s the desire – it’d be nice to have that discussion upfront so we design it properly for that speed that we expect to get,” Briseno said.

Wendell asked if the city would be designing the street for more than just to hit a particular speed limit.

“There’s gonna be multiple factors, but if the desire is to have slower speeds, then there’s certain ways you can design roads to accomplish that through engineering,” Briseno said.

Contact Jodelle Greiner at jgreiner@brookingsregister.com.