HUNTINGTON BEACH : City to Re-Examine Raised Speed Limits

City Council members have ordered a new survey of traffic speeds on Brookhurst and Bushard streets after hearing complaints that a recent increase in posted speed limits will heighten the danger to schoolchildren crossing the busy streets.

The council also agreed to install flashing lights at school crossings, purchase two radar speed display trailers to help enforce speeds and maintain a greater police presence at the sites. The trailers, which flash the speed of the passing cars, tend to deter speeds by calling drivers’ attention to how fast they are going.

The city raised the speed limits late last month from 45 to 50 m.p.h. on Bushard Street and from 50 to 55 m.p.h. on Brookhurst Street, the maximum speed limit for populated areas.

Councilman Don MacAllister said Thursday that he believes the new steps will slow down drivers and ultimately result in a lower posted speed limit.

Speed limits on arterial streets are set in accordance with the California Vehicle Code. The city’s traffic engineering staff conducts a radar speed survey during non-rush hours, measuring the speeds of 100 or 200 vehicles. The speed at which 85% of the vehicles travel is the speed limit that should be posted, barring hills, curves, a high accident rate or other dangerous factors.

Shirley Carey, a member of the Huntington Beach City School District Board of Trustees, complained that city officials administered the survey on Brookhurst and Bushard streets on a school holiday when speeds presumably were faster than normal because there was less traffic than usual.

She said she believes that the new survey, when performed on a busy school day, will bring down the posted speed limits.

Schools are not on the busy streets, but pupils have to cross the streets to get to their classrooms. Speed limits on small streets next to schools are 25 m.p.h., officials said.