Fairmount Avenue - Hayden to Granite Reef - Neighborhood Traffic Management Project

October 2009 UPDATE

Thank you to everyone who has helped with the Fairmount Neighborhood Traffic Management project. We have received over 70% of resident signatures in the affected area on the petition and are ready to move forward to the next step. Before we take that next step, we need to inform you of recent developments for the Neighborhood Traffic Management Program (NTMP).

At the September Transportation Commission meeting, the Commission gave clear direction to staff that all traffic calming projects presented to them should include recent traffic volume and speed data. Since the original counts on Fairmount Avenue were taken in April of 2007, additional traffic and speed counts on Fairmount Avenue were taken again on August 27, 2009.

Below is a comparison of the current NTMP criteria and the current data for Fairmount.

Current Criteria	Fairmount - Current Data
Speed	Speed
40% of vehicles are exceeding 30 mph 20% of vehicles are exceeding 35 mph	24% of cars are exceeding 30 mph 6% of cars are exceeding 35 mph
Traffic Volume	Traffic Volume
500 to 5,000 vehicles per day	Average daily traffic (ADT) is 750 vehicles per day
Residential Frontage	Residential Frontage
Street must be residential, have one lane in each direction, and at least 50% of homes with direct driveway access	Fairmount still meets the direct residential driveway access criteria

Unfortunately, since the recent set of data does not meet either of the speed criteria, it is Transportation staff's belief that this project would most likely not be approved by the Transportation Commission. This is based upon some recent discussion about the program.

 

On September 15^th, 2009, in response to concerns expressed by some of our residents, City Council discussed the status of the Neighborhood Traffic Management Program. During this meeting, Council gave direction to the Transportation Commission and Transportation staff that the qualifying criteria of the NTMP policy should be more strictly followed.

 

Council is concerned about the high percentage of projects that have been approved that did not meet all of the qualifying criteria, which was adopted as part of the Transportation Master Plan.

 

Based on the high percentage of "exception projects" approved to date, the Council also directed the Commission to review the NTMP policy's criteria in a year to ensure a policy is in place that reflects the proper criteria that will allow more worthwhile projects to qualify.

 

In light of these new developments, we believe that the following options should be considered for the Fairmount project:

• Take additional traffic and speed data on Fairmount Avenue after construction is completed on Indian School Road and traffic patterns have returned to normal.
• The Indian School Road Improvement Project is scheduled to be completed in December. Transportation staff can collect new traffic and speed data in January during regular school days. Once the data is collected, we will review it and determine if the volume and speed criteria were met. We will discuss the results with the affected area before moving forward.
• Fairmount could wait approximately one year to see if the Transportation Commission revises the NTMP policy.
• We could still move forward and present the Fairmount project to the Transportation Commission, but we believe that it would not be in the best interest of you and your neighbors based upon the recent speed counts.

Since the neighborhood has worked hard gathering more than 70% of resident signatures on the petition, the Transportation Department will honor the petition for approximately one year. After one year, the neighborhood would have to restart the process in the Neighborhood Traffic Management Program.

 

We would appreciate your feedback and comments regarding this project and we will consider all the options before moving forward in the process. Please send your comments and questions to Kathryn Kleinschmidt at kkleinschmidt@scottsdaleaz.gov or call her directly at (480) 312-7613.

April 2009 

The City of Scottsdale Transportation Department was been working with residents on Fairmount Avenue from Hayden Road to Granite Reef Road to address speeding and cut through traffic concerns.

Currently, a petition is being circulated by your neighbors to gather signatures to show support of the proposed project plan. The proposed plan consists of a series of three speed tables on Fairmount Avenue from Hayden Road to Granite Reef Road.

Speed tables are similar to speed humps except that they are wider. To see a picture of a speed table, click here.

To see a map of the proposed plan on Fairmount Avenue from Hayden Road to Granite Reef Road, click here.

To see a fact sheet from April 2009 about the Fairmount Avenue project, click here. To see current speed and traffic volume data, please see the table above.

To find out more information about this project or to submit comments please contact Kathryn Kleinschmidt at kkleinschmidt@scottsdaleaz.gov or by calling 480-312-7613.

Please check this web page from time to time for project updates as the project moves forward.