Background
Background
Missoula citizens have been consistently vocal—through public surveys, open houses, and online forums associated with transportation plan updates—about their desire to make streets a safer place for all people. The City's planning staff has found that speed- and intersection-related crashes are important areas of focus to decrease the number of fatal and severe crashes in Missoula. In response, City Council asked staff to research the possibility of lowering speed limits citywide.
Below is a brief look at the NTMP. For a more in-depth look at the research and development of this program, please read Safe Speeds on City Streets—Creating a Neighborhood Traffic Management Program.
Who
City Council asked staff to research the possibility of lowering speed limits citywide. The resulting study revealed the need for a more comprehensive approach to traffic safety and management, so the Neighborhood Traffic Management Program (NTMP) was created to take on this task. The program was developed by a work team made up of representatives from the Public Works & Mobility Department's Infrastructure & Mobility Planning and Engineering sections and Street Operations & Maintenance Division, as well as emergency services and the City Attorney’s office. NTMP will be implemented by the Transportation Safety Team (TST), with some guidance from other agencies as needed.
What
The NTMP is a comprehensive traffic safety program that uses the "6 E’s" of transportation safety—Engineering, Education, Encouragement, Enforcement, Evaluation, and Equity—to manage traffic speeds and volumes on residential streets. This program supports Vision Zero, the City’s goal to eliminate traffic-related fatalities and serious injuries by reducing travel speeds on neighborhood streets.
Where
The NTMP is limited to local jurisdiction residential streets, which are Neighborhood Greenways, Local Streets, and Residential Collectors. The NTMP will take a proactive look at Neighborhood Greenways, with priority given first to areas with high crash rates, then to important crosstown connections, and finally to the rest of the Neighborhood Greenway network. This program will also be a tool that TST can use to respond to citizen concerns and complaints related to speeding and traffic safety.
When
The NTMP will be an ongoing program, with planning and project development tasks taking place in the colder months and data collection and implementation taking place in the warmer months. The goal is to look at approximately five Neighborhood Greenway areas per year.
Why
City of Missoula is committed to safe and equitable transportation and strives to keep its streets, sidewalks, and paths safe for people of all ages and abilities to use all modes of transportation. The NTMP will address:
- Rising crash numbers citywide
- High crash rates on some local streets
- High crash severity at uncontrolled intersections
- The 25-mph speed limit, which may be inappropriate for some conditions (sight triangles, curbside sidewalks, Neighborhood Greenways)
- Increased traffic due to population growth and infill development
- Decreased traffic enforcement
- Lack of complete and connected bike/pedestrian facilities
- Lack of clear process for responding to citizen requests for traffic calming
- Challenging and often expensive requirements for citizen-initiated traffic calming
How
Transportation planners created workflow diagrams so that the City's methods for proactively addressing traffic safety concerns as well as responding to citizen requests are clearly defined. They have prioritized individual neighborhood greenways for implementation, and this will guide the proactive approach. At the same time, staff will field complaints and requests for traffic management, collect data, and score projects for implementation. These planners also put together the list of neighborhood energizers as suggestions for slowing traffic that can be used alone or combined with another traffic-calming solutions.
