Traffic studies for speed reduction may require Council pre-approval
Five Cape Coral City Council members want to change the city’s speed limit ordinance to require that a traffic study related to any speed limit change come before the council for pre-approval.
The workshop discussion came Wednesday after the speed limit on Old Burnet Store Road was lowered.
City Manager Michael Ilczyszyn said a segment of the roadway north of Kismet Parkway West and Caloosa Parkway had some traffic life-safety issues including serious accidents, some resulting in death.
The two-way road has two-lanes with a shared bike path.
“The speed limit was 45 miles per hour. A dangerous situation,” Ilczyszyn said.
He said there was a presentation at the City Transportation Advisory Committee regarding lowering that speed limit.
A speed study showed lowering the speed limit from 45 miles per hour to 40 was warranted, he said.
“It rung all the bells with moving forward,” Ilczyszyn said.
City Attorney Aleksandr Boksner asked him how he came to give gave that direction.
It came down to looking at the section of the ordinance online, a hard copy, of a revised ordinance of 2019, that was pulled as it was not updated online. Ilczyszyn said there was a change to the code section that kept it to an administration action, but limited the type of change.
It actually had changed from administration to Council, and Ilczyszyn said he subsequently could not find why the change was made. He said there needs to be discussion about the efficiency and the speed at which the city handles things from a life-safety perspective.
Mayor John Gunter placed the discussion on Council’s workshop agenda not because he disagreed with the speed limit change, but with the process under which it was done.
“I personally believe it should stay as a City Council action and approval. Once we implement a speed study and see the data, if we don’t act upon it then we can be liable. To me that is very concerning,” he said. “Before we evaluate any roadway, it should be an approval for the City Council to do the traffic study.”
Gunter said the 2018 change does not mention if a traffic analysis needs to take place first, a process he wants to include. He said it should continue to be a Council decision and that particular element should be added.
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