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EXHIBIT "C" <br /> <br />Central Arcata Traffic Task Force <br /> <br />TRAFFIC CALMING CONCEPTS <br /> <br />(PORTIONS ONLY) <br /> <br />(Excerpted and amended from the City of Buenaventura "Neighborhood Traffic <br /> Management and Calming Program" dated June 1997) <br /> <br />1.1 <br /> <br />BACKGROUND <br /> <br />One of the most persistent and emotional complaints that the City receives is <br />speeding on residential streets. Each year numerous requests are received by <br />the Arcata City Public Works Department to study streets where residents have <br />concerns about excessive traffic speeds and/or volumes. A list of these locations <br />is provided in Attachment 1. <br /> <br />Proper street design is essential in encouraging lower speeds and maintaining <br />the integrity of residential neighborhoods. New streets are designed to minimize <br />through traffic in a neighborhood. Subdivisions are now designed to avoid long <br />straight stretches of streets in new residential areas. Long stretches of streets <br />encourage higher speeds. Existing residential streets with long stretches of more <br />than 1,000 feet are consistently complaining of higher speeds. Residential <br />streets carrying volumes of more than 1,000 vehicles per day are generally <br />considered unacceptable to adjacent residents. <br /> <br />Traffic Calming for Livable Neighborhoods <br /> <br />Traffic calming is the combination of both policies and measures that help <br />decrease the negative impacts to local streets and neighborhoods caused by <br />motor vehicles. Although traffic calming techniques did not begin to be readily <br />implemented in the United States until the 1980's, there are many examples that <br />already exist. In Europe and Australia, some of these same techniques have <br />been used long before the 1970's. Many of the successful techniques used there <br />are into their second and third generation. Their effectiveness has been proven <br />and many appear to be part of the original street design rather than as an <br />afterthought. <br /> <br />Traffic calming techniques were developed to reduce speeding problems and <br />heavy traffic flow on residential streets. By making some residential streets more <br /> <br /> <br />