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Speed Bumps/Humps

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Recommended Guidelines

POLICY NO. 27
SPEED BUMPS/HUMPS
(Revised January 12, 1994)

On Public Streets within the City of Agoura Hills
(Please click on the link above to download)


Speed humps, such as those used in demonstration projects on Rainbow Crest Drive and on Grey Rock Road, may be considered on other residential streets in the City of Agoura Hills, when all of the criteria, as indicated below, are satisfied.

REQUESTS

Requests for speed humps should be supported by written documentation which demonstrates that substantial interest in the roadway design features is present on the specific street being considered.  To that end, a petition bearing the name, address and telephone number of at least 60% of the affected residents requesting the humps should be submitted.

The City Council is to make the final determination on all speed hump installations.

SPEED HUMPS

All speed humps shall consist of deflections in the paved roadway surface that provide for a uniformly varying height to a maximum of 2 5/8” +/- 1/8” over a 12 foot long base.  The construction, markings and warning of the hump shall comply to current standards developed by the City’s Public Works Department.

STREETS

All streets considered for speed humps shall be a minimum of ¼ mile in length and conform to the definition of “Residence District” in the California Vehicle Code (Section 515), and qualify for a 25 mph speed limit.  All streets should also have a local street functional use.  Streets in the City’s Circulation Element in the General Plan shall not be considered for speed humps.

The grade of the street should not exceed a sustained grade of 6%.  Exception for street grades up to 8% may be allowed where the steeper grade prevails over relative short distances.  The maximum length of six plus percent grade should be limited to no more than 400 feet.  Very short grades of up to 10% could be tolerated.  The length of grade in this category should not exceed 200 feet.

LOCATION

Speed humps should generally be installed at approximately 400 foot spacing.  If street lighting exists on the street, humps should be installed as close as possible to the lights for maximum illumination.  Care should be taken to avoid driveways and manholes.  On curving streets, the humps should be placed at or near tangent sections of roadway.  Care should also be taken with regard to visibility over crest vertical curves.  The minimum number of humps constructed on any street should be three.

TRAFFIC VOLUME

Streets should have a minimum daily volume of 2,000 vehicles or 200 vehicles per hour during any peak period before humps are considered.  This volume of traffic is the level at which the residential character of the street is compromised.

TRAFFIC SPEEDS

A speed survey should demonstrate that 60% of the vehicles on the street are exceeding the 25 mph speed limit.  Furthermore, the finding of excessive speed should be made only after attempts at controlling speed using specialized enforcement   has proven ineffective.  At locations where the prevailing speed (85th percentile) is found to exceed 40 mph, the daily or hourly threshold volume can be reduced by 30%. 


SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES

A “special circumstance” can be considered on streets which are an extension of streets which already contain speed humps. The “special circumstance” would not apply to street extensions which are interrupted by an arterial highway.

PRIORITIZATION

In the event several requests for speed humps are pending at any given time, (1) those with the greatest incident of reported accidents involving excessive speed; and (2) those locations with the highest volume of traffic should be given the highest priority.

REMOVAL

The removal of any hump, or series of humps, should be considered following the same procedures used to determine the installation.

 

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