KHTS Radio Santa Clarita Radio – Santa Clarita News
Have you ever driven down a street in Santa Clarita, and wondered how the speed limits are determined? The answer may be a little more complex than you think.
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There are two ways speed limits are set: lawmakers and traffic engineers.
California sets guidelines for most streets and highways in the state, while the U.S. Department of Transportation sets speeds for the freeways. For example, the legislature has set most residential streets to 25 mph.
That is just the law; the real work happens with the engineers.
Inside the Santa Clarita Traffic Management Center, Gus Pivetti, who has been the city traffic engineer for 15 years, manages the flow of cars throughout the city.
“We handle the traffic signals, speed limits and set traffic corridors,” Pivetti said. “We can see any light in the city, and even control them in the case of gridlock or an emergency.”
The management center is also responsible for future traffic planning in the city, as Santa Clarita prepares for over 20,000 new homes in various developments throughout the SCV.
The Science Of Speed
It’s important that a speed limit isn’t too low or too high. If it’s too low, some drivers will ignore it and drive as fast as they want. If it’s too high, people drive at dangerous speeds.
For traffic engineers such as Pivetti, the trick is to set a speed limit that’s close to the speed most people actually drive on a particular stretch of road – not the speed lawmakers want them to drive.
To do this, Pivetti uses a “tried-and-true” method of determining speed limits that has been the golden rule for over 50 years: called the 85th Percentile.
A method of calculation is used in North America to determine regulatory speed zones. It assumes that the majority of drivers will naturally find a speed at which they’re most comfortable, fitting with the flow of traffic and avoiding crashes.
“This is used by almost every city in the country,” Pivetti said. “There is some internal debate about if this should be changed, but for now this is the standard.”
When traffic engineers do their speed surveys, they are told to disregard the speeds of the fastest 15 percent of drivers on that street during free-flow traffic conditions. That’s because the law figures those people are probably driving too fast.
“If you feel safe driving, most likely you are going near the speed limit,” Pivetti said. “But of course there are speeders.”
Hot Spots
The traffic management center monitors the flow of traffic throughout Santa Clarita, including how fast you drive, the location and time of day.
“We monitor the flow of traffic and determine when and where there are pockets of speeders,” said Pivetti. “There are certain ‘hot spots’ in Santa Clarita where people go really fast.”
The city has determined high speed areas, like Golden Valley Road and Haskell Canyon, for increased traffic enforcement.
Engineers then turn this data over to the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station for their motor unit, which is responsible for traffic enforcement.
“We use data from collisions and the city to determine where to enforce traffic laws,” said Sgt. Scott Shoemaker with the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station Traffic Unit.
See Related: Santa Clarita Traffic Safety Plan For 2017 Exceeds Expectations
The sergeant explained if there is an area with a high number of collisions or a number of residents calling in to the station, the motor unit will increase patrols.
“We are monitoring traffic every day; our motor unit is out there,” said Shoemaker. “Slow down, you’re going to get there a few minutes slower, but you will get there safely.”
The Future
Santa Clarita is currently undergoing a speed limit review, as part of part of a five- to seven-year cycle.
“We look at the speed limits every few years to determine if they need to be changed,” said Pivetti. “Development is a big factor that could possibly change speeds.”
In the next decade, over 20,000 homes are set to be built in the Santa Clarita Valley, with another 15,000 only 30 miles away.
“With more homes, there will be more cars on the street,” Pivetti said. “During our traffic surveys, we take this into account.”
During the review, the city also determines if streets or bridges need to be widened to accommodate the increase in traffic, or if lanes any additional lanes are required.
It is too early in the review process to determine if limits will rise or fall, but you may see a change in speed limits on the streets of Santa Clarita.
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Why can I just go one speed across the valley like Newhall Ranch Road and hit all the lights green 45 or 50 miles an hour because. All the stops are wearing out my tires and brakes
Why can’t I go across the valley and hit all green lights driving through 45-55 miles an hour down Newhall Ranch Road ? If you’re monitoring is so terrifically
The timing of street lights perplex me. The fuel wasted on stopping at every light enroute to the I5, or stopping and remaining stopped with no cross traffic doesn’t make any sense. If there is visibility to all street signals as the article states, then intelligent switching would be much respectful of people’s time and would save fuel and money.
I don’t know WHY there are speed limits anyway…no one obeys them, and there aren’t enough cops to enforce them. I go the speed limit all the time and I get my rear run over and angry drivers behind me. I usually just end up pulling over and let them pass.
A 7 mile drive I take regularly has at least 5 speed limit changes on just 2 major streets. That is ridiculous when I’m supposed to be keeping my eyes ON THE ROAD with drivers weaving in and out to get a couple of cars ahead.
There is NO TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT in Santa Clarita.
No matter what these people say,
THERE IS NO SIGNAL LIGHT SYNCHRONIZATION PRODUCING CONTINUOUS TRAFFIC FLOW.
The major streets have red lights that pop up at any time.
If you travel at the speed limit, one half of the lights will be red.
If you exceed the speed limit, it will be a little less.
With Santa Clarita growing so much, traffic management is and always has been the number one issue.
We really need a traffic management department that does the job!
As everybody knows, if you drive on Newhall Ranch /Golden Valley from the 5 to the 14,
more than half the lights will be red. Why?
We really don’t need any more bs stories like this one
85% of the average speed of traffic? Doesn’t that mean that 15% of us are always getting speed tickets no matter how slow we all go?
In some cities, there are dips that divert water so it doesn’t flood. If you don’t slow down for these dips, your car scrapes and will eventually need major repair. Speeders stay away. Speeders love Santa Clarita for that reason, no dips. And how about speed bumps in shopping centers and neighborhoods, other cities have them. Are other cities smarter than we are? Safer, less car crashes, why not Santa Clarita?
The 85th percentile method to set limits almost always results in the safest limits with the fewest crashes. This is perhaps the most often proven and re-proven principle in traffic safety engineering for 75+ years. The oldest written reference I have is the 1941 National Safety Council Report on Speed which says to post between the 80th and 90th percentile speeds for the best results.
When lawmakers set arbitrary limits that violate this known traffic safety engineering principle, it is almost always to enable for-profit enforcement rackets that no one should tolerate.
James C. Walker, National Motorists Association
First off Mister Pivetti needs to retire. 15 years on the job collecting a paycheck and benefits is not a recipe for doing the job and seeing that the fatal accidents we are currently experiencing here in SCV are being addressed. Speeding is the norm here as well as reckless driving, uturns where signs plainly say no u turn, tailgating, texting and driving with tinted windows so they cannot be seen, rude soccer moms speeding and texting and flipping other drivers off and it goes on and on and on. Drivers would be hard pressed to see a deputy unless it is to fill out an accident report that would not have occurred had they been doing their job. Motor officers are hardly ever to be seen. Even the COC students start the disregard for the law before they even leave the campuses. The driving is indicative of the type people this valley is attracting. The commander needs to get out and see what goes on here. It goes on and on Soledad, Via Princessa, Newhall Ranch, Reuther, McBean and on and on. Very dangerous and sad. Hopefully KHTS will not be too scared to post this for fear of rattling a few cages.
Not to mention Sierra Highway and its steady flow of fatal accidents, Bouquet Canyon and on and on. We need hard hitting Billboards posted around this valley and hard hitting deputies out of those boats they drive and more motor officers and SUV’s.