Mayor of Sammamish Don Gerend has asked city staff to explore the possibility of recording local traffic speed data, to help local police better identify potential accident hot spots.
During discussions last week about the development of the private roadway easement on 244th Avenue Northeast, and the need to keep an eye on traffic volumes and speeds in the area, Gerend asked whether the traffic speed radar trailers currently employed on Sammamish roads could be fitted to record the speed data they displayed.
Gerend said this week that local residents had made it clear that the speed of vehicles on local roads was a concern.
“We hear about speeding on an ongoing basis, pretty regularly,” Gerend said. “It will be too bad if someone gets hurt.”
Gerend said that not having a large police force had influenced the city’s approach to traffic control.
“We don’t have an overabundance of police,” he said. “One of the reasons we established the Neighborhood Traffic Management Program (NTMP) was to try and find out exactly where speeding was occurring, to give the police an idea of which streets might be a problem.”
If a neighborhood is concerned about speeding they can register with the city at the council’s NTMP web page. Residents will be encouraged to assist in the the collection of traffic data.
This program includes a Neighborhood Speed Watch initiative, where residents can track vehicle speeds and record license plate data with a city radar unit.
Sammamish Police will train citizens to record speeds and license numbers of cars traveling in excess of the legal speed limit.
According to the program’s guidelines two people are usually needed — one to clock the speeds and read out the license plate numbers and descriptions of the cars, and the other to record the information.
The city will then send notices to the owners or drivers of the vehicles encouraging them to observe the speed limit.
Gerend said that by fitting speed indicator machinery with the ability to record and store data, or purchasing new equipment that has this ability, the data picture of speeding in Sammamish would be more comprehensive. Director of Planning John Cunningham is investigating whether this capacity is available and affordable.
