TO: TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION
FROM: MARIA B. TIPPING, CITY ENGINEER
DATE: MARCH 26, 2026
SUBJECT:
Title
2026 CITY OF CLAREMONT SPEED SURVEY
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SUMMARY
To allow the use of radar speed enforcement on local streets, the California Vehicle Code requires that the local authority conduct a traffic and engineering survey, which remains valid for a five, seven or fourteen-year period. The last city-wide speed survey was completed and approved by the City Council in December 2014.
Since the adoption of the last Speed Survey, new legislation has been passed [Assembly Bill 43 (AB43)], modifying the speed survey term limits and the criteria for setting speed limits. To meet the new requirements set forth by AB43, staff engaged the services of a professional traffic engineer consultant to prepare a speed analysis (Radar Speed Survey). In the interim, staff used AB43 provisions, which allowed the extension of existing surveys until a new survey could be budgeted and completed.
With this new speed survey, the City’s consultant traffic engineer evaluated ninety-five street segments citywide. The document was prepared using the updated requirements of the California Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (CA MUTCD), which includes the provisions of Assembly Bill 43 (effective 2022) in the new 2026 Speed Survey.
Staff presented the preliminary recommendations of the Speed Survey to the Traffic and Transportation Commission on March 27, 2025. At tonight’s meeting, staff is presenting the final recommendations and seeking a recommendation for City Council to adopt the 2026 Speed Survey.
RECOMMENDATION
Recommended Action
Staff recommends the Traffic and Transportation Commission recommend the City Council adopt, through local ordinance, the speed limit zones as outlined in the 2026 Radar Speed Survey.
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FINANCIAL REVIEW
The staff cost to prepare this report and study, and administer this contract/project/program was $88,450, and was included in the operating budget of the Community Development Department.
The costs associated with the implementation of the speed survey are those needed to replace the existing speed limit signs, and associated roadway stenciling to reflect the modifications of the final recommended speed limits. This effort is currently estimated at $175,000. This figure is an estimate and is expected to change once bids are received to move forward with this implementation, following City Council adoption of the 2026 Radar Speed Survey.
ANALYSIS
Assembly Bill 43 (AB43)
The new legislation requirements from AB43 went into effect on January 1, 2022, and gave the cities throughout the state more control over deciding how speed limits should be set and whether they should be reduced on certain roadway segments and highways. AB43 also contains a provision to extend existing speed surveys to up to fourteen years, deviating from the previous ten-year maximum effective term.
Claremont hired traffic consultant Advantec Consulting Engineers to conduct the required Engineering and Traffic Survey (E&TS) studies necessary to update the City-wide posted speed limits to meet requirements set forth by AB43. The preliminary recommendations resulting from the study and analysis were presented to the Traffic and Transportation Commission (TTC) on March 27, 2025. The study recommendations were well received, as reflected in the TTC meeting minutes from March 27, 2025 (Attachment B).
In addition, AB43 made provisions to accommodate the necessary updates that the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) had to complete to implement the new law, because Caltrans has a role as the agency responsible for implementing standards for setting and updating speed limits. Per AB43, Caltrans was required to update the California Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (CA MUTCD) for agencies within the State of California to follow. The CA MUTCD update was completed in January 2023, which created a path forward for local agencies to commence the process to update their speed surveys using the new provisions available through the new AB43 legislation. The most recent CA MUTCD revision 9, from April 1, 2025, was taken into consideration to complete the 2026 Speed Survey. Under the new provisions, speed surveys maybe extended to fourteen years (previously ten years) if a traffic engineer/engineer of record certifies that no changes in roadway conditions have occurred per California Vehicle Code (CVC) 40802 (c)(2)(B)(i)(II).
2026 Speed Survey
The 2026 Speed Survey evaluated ninety-five street segments citywide. The E&TS identified the following recommendations:
• Forty-eight street segments whose posted speed limits will remain the same,
• Forty-five street segments that will be reduced by five miles per hour, and
• Two street segments that will be reduced by ten miles per hour.
• There are no street segments required to be increased as part of the 2026 Speed Survey.
A summary of the recommended posted speed limits for the 2026 Speed Survey can be found in Attachment A.
The following summarizes the most relevant new Vehicle Code (CVC) sections addressing the provisions applicable to setting speed limits.
California Vehicle Code Section 40802
(B) (i) A particular section of a highway or state highway with a prima facie speed limit that is provided by this code or by local ordinance under paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 22352, or established under Section 22354, 22357, 22358, or 22358.3, if that prima facie speed limit is not justified by an engineering and traffic survey conducted within one of the following time periods, prior to the date of the alleged violation, and enforcement of the speed limit involves the use of radar or any other electronic device that measures the speed of moving objects:
(I) Except as specified in subclause (II), seven years.
(II) If an engineering and traffic survey was conducted more than seven years prior to the date of the alleged violation, and a registered engineer evaluates the section of the highway and determines that:
1. No significant changes in roadway or traffic conditions have occurred, including, but not limited to,
2. Changes in adjoining property or land use, roadway width, or traffic volume, 14 years.
(ii) This subparagraph does not apply to a local street, road, or school zone, senior zone, or business activity district.
The following are provisions considered with the revised CA MUTCD, reflecting AB43 provisions:
A. The critical speed or 85th percentile speed is that speed at or below which 85 percent of the traffic is moving. This speed is the baseline value in determining what the majority of drivers believe is safe and reasonable. The "basic speed limit" is the nearest 5 mph increment to the 85th percentile speed. Under the recent CA MUTCD updates per the AB 43, Section 2B.13 of the CA MUTCD allows a 5 mph reduction when the 85th percentile speed would require a rounding down. The recommended speed limit may be lowered by an additional 5 mph for the following reasons:
a. The local agency roadway segment is designated as a “safety corridor;”
b. The local agency roadway segment is adjacent to any land or facility that generates high concentrations of bicyclists or pedestrians (i.e., schools, parks, senior centers, etc.)
B. The 10 mile per hour (mph) pace speed is the 10 mph increment that contains the highest percentage of vehicles. It is a measure of the dispersion of speeds across the range of the samples surveyed. An accepted practice is to keep the speed limit within the 10-mph pace while considering the critical speed and other factors that might require a speed lower than the critical speed.
C. The collision rate for each street segment is compared to average collision rates that can be reasonably expected to occur on streets and highways in other jurisdictions, in proportion to the volume of traffic per lane mile. These average collision rates have been developed by Caltrans and are considered reasonable for use in the City of Claremont.
Additional considerations as amended to the California Vehicle Code:
SEC. 7. Section 22358.7 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:
22358.7.
(a) If a local authority, after completing an engineering and traffic survey, finds that the speed limit is still more than is reasonable or safe, the local authority may, by ordinance, determine and declare a prima facie speed limit that has been reduced an additional five miles per hour for either of the following reasons:
(1) The portion of highway has been designated as a safety corridor. A local authority shall not deem more than one-fifth of their streets as safety corridors.
(2) The portion of highway is adjacent to any land or facility that generates high concentrations of bicyclists or pedestrians, especially those from vulnerable groups such as children, seniors, persons with disabilities, and the unhoused.
(b) (1) As used in this section, “safety corridor” shall be defined by the Department of Transportation in the next revision of the California Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. In making this determination, the department shall consider highways that have the highest number of serious injuries and fatalities based on collision data that may be derived from, but not limited to, the Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System.
(2) The Department of Transportation shall, in the next revision of the California Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, determine what constitutes land or facilities that generate high concentrations of bicyclists and pedestrians, as used in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a). In making this determination, the department shall consider density, road use type, and bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure present on a section of highway.
(c) A local authority may not lower a speed limit as authorized by this section until June
30, 2024, or until the Judicial Council has developed an online tool for adjudicating infraction violations statewide as specified in Article 7 (commencing with Section 68645) of Chapter 2 of Title 8 of the Government Code, whichever is sooner.
(d) A local authority shall issue only warning citations for violations of exceeding the speed limit by 10 miles per hour or less for the first 30 days that a lower speed limit is in effect as authorized by this section.
SEC. 8. Section 22358.8 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:
22358.8.
(a) If a local authority, after completing an engineering and traffic survey, finds that the speed limit is still more than is reasonable or safe, the local authority may, by ordinance, retain the current speed limit or restore the immediately prior speed limit if that speed limit was established with an engineering and traffic survey and if a registered engineer has evaluated the section of highway and determined that no additional general purpose lanes have been added to the roadway since completion of the traffic survey that established the prior speed limit.
(b) This section does not authorize a speed limit to be reduced by any more than five miles per hour from the current speed limit nor below the immediately prior speed limit.
(c) A local authority shall issue only warning citations for violations of exceeding the speed limit by 10 miles per hour or less for the first 30 days that a lower speed limit is in effect as authorized by this section.
SEC. 9. Section 22358.9 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:
22358.9.
(a) (1) Notwithstanding any other law, a local authority may, by ordinance, determine and declare a 25 or 20 miles per hour prima facie speed limit on a highway contiguous to a business activity district when posted with a sign that indicates a speed limit of 25 or 20 miles per hour.
(2) The prima facie limits established under paragraph (1) apply only to highways that meet all of the following conditions:
(A) A maximum of four traffic lanes.
(B) A maximum posted 30 miles per hour prima facie speed limit immediately prior to and after the business activity district, if establishing a 25 miles per hour speed limit.
(C) A maximum posted 25 miles per hour prima facie speed limit immediately prior to and after the business activity district, if establishing a 20 miles per hour speed limit.
(b) As used in this section, a “business activity district” is that portion of a highway and the property contiguous thereto that includes central or neighborhood downtowns, urban villages, or zoning designations that prioritize commercial land uses at the downtown or neighborhood scale and meets at least three of the following requirements in paragraphs (1) to (4), inclusive:
(1) No less than 50 percent of the contiguous property fronting the highway consists of retail or dining commercial uses, including outdoor dining, that open directly onto sidewalks adjacent to the highway.
(2) Parking, including parallel, diagonal, or perpendicular spaces located alongside the highway.
(3) Traffic control signals or stop signs regulating traffic flow on the highway, located
at intervals of no more than 600 feet.
(4) Marked crosswalks not controlled by a traffic control device.
(c) A local authority shall not declare a prima facie speed limit under this section on a portion of a highway where the local authority has already lowered the speed limit as permitted under Sections 22358.7 and 22358.8.
(d) A local authority shall issue only warning citations for violations of exceeding the speed limit by 10 miles per hour or less for the first 30 days that a lower speed limit is in effect as authorized by this section.
The 2026 Speed Survey (Attachment C), identifies a complete list of surveyed streets containing information on their roadway segment limits, collision rates, posted speed limits, 85th percentile speeds, National Highway designation, consideration of concentration of pedestrians, bicyclists, higher crash rates, retention of prior speed limit, and recommended speed limits.
The following table summarizes the number of street segments, street segments with no changes, street segments that decreased 5 mph, and street segments that decreased by 10 mph.
|
Summary of Changes |
|
Street Segments |
No Change |
-5 MPH |
-10 MPH |
|
95 |
48 |
45 |
2 |
Future Steps
With a recommendation from the TTC, staff will move forward with preparing an Ordinance to be considered for adoption by the City Council, adopting the 2026 Speed Survey.
Staff will also develop a project to implement the 2026 Speed Survey to complete the necessary signage and striping improvements to reflect the recommended speed limits. This project will need to go to City Council for contract award following the adoption of the 2026 Speed Survey.
CEQA REVIEW
This item is not subject to environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
PUBLIC NOTICE PROCESS
The agenda and staff report for this item have been posted on the City website and distributed to interested parties. If you desire a copy, please contact the City Clerk’s Office.
Submitted by: Prepared by:
Maria B. Tipping, P.E. Vincent Ramos
City Engineer Associate Engineer
Attachments:
A - Summary of Recommended Speed Limits
B - Traffic and Transportation Meeting Minutes of March 27, 2025
C - 2026 Speed Survey