CONSENT AGENDA REQUEST

Sponsor:                                                           Board of Supervisors Meeting Date:

Sharon Grove McCamy, Lee District Supervisor                          June 16, 2003

Staff Lead:                                                                                      Department:

Elizabeth A. Cook                                                                 Community Development

Magisterial District:  Impacts All Magisterial Districts

Topic:    A Resolution To Request The Virginia Department Of Transportation Residential Traffic Calming Program For Fauquier County

Topic Description:

On May 28, 2003 , the Fauquier County Transportation Committee approved a motion recommending that the Board of Supervisors request that the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) Traffic Calming Program be available for the County.  This Program provides traffic management tools for the County to reduce speeding in residential neighborhoods.

Requested Action of the Board of Supervisors:

Consider adoption of the attached resolution.

Background Information:

VDOT has established a residential Traffic Calming Program within which Fauquier County can be included by Board of Supervisors’ resolution.  The Program provides communities with traffic management tools dealing specifically with speeding.  The goal is to slow speeders in residential neighborhoods on streets classified as local.  The focus is on existing subdivision streets.  For proposed subdivisions traffic calming should be addressed during the application review process.

There are various traffic calming measures stipulated in the VDOT Traffic Calming Guide for Local Residential Streets.  These include: community awareness and education regarding speeding concerns and the importance of driving safely; enforcement; non-physical measures such as pavement markings; physical measures like speed humps, traffic circles, raised crosswalks, or raised median islands; and alternative actions.  Staff would recommend that the Board include All Way Stop Control (AWSC) as an additional traffic calming measure to be included in the County's options.  AWSCs are not specifically included in the Traffic Calming Guide for Local Residential Streets.

Once the Board passes the resolution adopting the Traffic Calming Program, there are a series of steps that must be met to satisfy VDOT's requirements for any specific requests.  The County initiates and takes the lead role in coordinating the traffic calming process, and VDOT will provide technical support.  The following list is a summary of the steps:

  1. Initial Community Meeting - County staff arranges the initial community meeting and determines size and scope of the participants.
  2. Board of Supervisors sends a resolution with support data to VDOT, clarifying the following:
    1. Street functional classification

                                                               i.      25 mph posted speed limit

                                                             ii.      Two-lane roadway

                                                            iii.      Not a primary access to commercial or industrial sites

                                                           iv.      Minimum of 12 dwellings fronting the street per 1,000 feet of roadway, including both sides

    1. Average daily traffic volumes
    2. Average speed - Average speed is at least 5 mph over the speed limit or average speed should be at least 30 mph to qualify
    3. Description of petition area
    4. Description of impacted areas
    5. Petition with signatures – Once a proposed street meets the technical criteria, at least 75% of the total occupied households within the petition area must be obtained.  The petition area includes residences on the proposed street section, and residences on all streets that have major access onto the proposed street study section.
  1. Plan Development
    1. Develop traffic calming plan with input from citizens, County, police, fire, rescue, and VDOT.
    2. Proposed plan presented to residents at a public meeting, or through other methods such as a petition, to inform and measure support for the plan.
  2. Approval and Implementation - The final plan, and method of implementation must be jointly approved by the Board of Supervisors and VDOT.  The final plan must identify the source of funding for implementation.
  3. Evaluation - A follow-up evaluation of traffic calming measures should be performed to ensure effectiveness.

Financial Impacts Analysis:

No fiscal impact analysis is required to adopt the Traffic Calming Program.  However, a component of the Program requires the Board of Supervisors to be responsible for identifying the type of funding that will be used for each proposed traffic calming project.

Identify any other Departments, Organizations or Individuals that would be affected by this request:

VDOT
Sheriff's Office
Office of Emergency Services
Department of Community Development
Fire Departments
Rescue Squads
 County Residents
 County Businesses