The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Staff says there are better ways to slow traffic
[ by Mark Reaman ]
Going against the recommendation of town staff, the Crested Butte council agreed to consider reducing the speed limit on Elk, Sopris and Maroon Avenues between First and Sixth Streets to 10 miles per hour during Elk Avenue’s one-way reconfiguration. A public hearing on the matter will be held May 3.
In a memo to the council, chief marshal Mike Reily and community development director Troy Russ made it clear that implementing a speed limit does not make drivers slow down. Instead, the geometric design of a roadway is what determines speed. The staff’s plan is to place traffic calming devices like flower boxes on Sopris and Maroon to get vehicles to slow down.
Reily explained that under Colorado statute, speed limits are to be set after a speed study, which identifies the “85th percentile of speed.” If a study is not conducted, the state normally requires speed limits be set at 25 mph in business districts and 30 mph in residential districts. While Crested Butte is a home-rule municipality and thus can implement more restrictive speed limits, Reily suggested having such a low limit could be problematic if someone contested a speeding ticket in court – which is extremely rare in Crested Butte.
“Town has been going along pretty well with a 15-mile-per-hour speed limit,” said Reily. “It might be a step too far to go to the 10 mph limit without data from a speed study.”
Councilwoman Mallika Magner said she has had copious contact from residents of Sopris and Maroon. “They are quite concerned and would like to see a 10-mile-per-hour limit,” she said. “If it’s never been raised before it shouldn’t be an issue.”
“Roadways and speeds are dictated by geometric design, not by speed limits,” said Russ. “Staff’s intent was to lower the speed by traffic calming measures and not by imposing new speed limits.”
“We know we want to mitigate the speed and we know there haven’t been contested speeding tickets and even if we lose a trial on a speeding ticket, we can still put up 10-mph speed limit signs,” noted councilman Will Dujardin.
“If the speed limit is currently 15 mph and people drive 20, lowering the limit to 10 mph might slow some people down to 15,” added councilman Jason MacMillan.
“You can sign whatever you want but people drive what they feel comfortable driving,” said Reily. “So we are trying to solve the issue through design, with calming measures in the roadway. I truly believe 15 mph is the right limit for town. The traffic calming chicanes will actually drop the speed.”
“I must be an unusual person. I actually look at the speed limit signs and drive the speed limit,” said Magner.
She moved to proceed with a public hearing on lowering the speed limit to 10 mph on Sopris, Maroon and Elk Avenues. That motion passed 5-0 and a hearing will be held at the May 3 meeting.
