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Summary & Recommendation When considering the effects of vehicle speeds on public safety, pedestrian and bicyclists' safety is always a primary concern. It is often difficult to pinpoint causes and identify the best countermeasures due to the rarity and randomness of these crashes. Minneapolis and St. Paul are the only communities in Minnesota that have enough serious pedestrian and bicycle crashes to obtain statistically reliable data to analyze the causes of crashes and potential mitigations. All other cities will need to rely on statewide summaries to indicate trends, causes and possible mitigation strategies. This analysis of serious statewide pedestrian and bicycle crashes found that the Municipal State Aid, (MSA) system was more at risk than other city streets. The MSA system was found to have a serious pedestrian and bicycle crash density that is almost nine times higher than on other city streets. It is speculated that this higher risk is associated with typically wider streets, higher volumes and adjacent commercial development. This analysis also found that the almost half of serious pedestrian and bicycle crashes occurred at intersections, and almost half of these had traffic signal control. Police crash reports cited speed as a contributing factor in only four percent of serious pedestrian and bicycle crashes. The 85th percentile speed continues to be a reasonable approximation of the prevailing speed selected by drivers on local streets based on their perception of the road environment. However, this approach has been criticized, especially by pedestrian safety advocates in urban area because it does not directly consider pedestrians and bicycles. That critique is correct, but most city streets have speed limits based on statute and not the analysis of prevailing speeds. There is no evidence to suggest lowing speed limit will result in lower travel speeds. Reducing speed will require changes to the roadway environmental and/or increased enforcement. However, speeds on local roads in some communities already lower than statutory limits lending credibilityto a reduction in speed limits. Whenever possible local agencies should implement proven alternative strategies and modify the roadway environment to reduce travel speeds. Also, whenever possible speed limits should be reduced when documented travel speeds are less than the statutory limit. Prior to implementing a citywide reduction in speed limits, public outreach and a robust public involvement campaign should be implemented. This step is crucial to separate fact from perception and determine if residents and elected officials understand the likelihood of achieving a reduction in travel speeds. It is also important to determine if the community actually supports a change, or is there only a vocal minority. If a change is made, partnering with law enforcement is essential, while often challenging and unpopular a true reduction in speeds without modifications to the roadway environment will require increased enforcement. If a speed change is desired, it is recommended that the agency install regulatory signs instead of gateway signing alone. Regulatory signs should be installed whenever speed zones change, and at community boundaries. The suggested system -based speed limits include: • Local Residential Streets 25 mph • Urban Collectors 30 mph • Urban Minor Arterials 35 mph • Multi -lane Suburban Minor Arterials 40 mph Changing speeds limits is new to Minnesota, as there is insufficient data to support a conclusion as to whether or not it will improve pedestrian safety. It is strongly encouraged that communities track their results so additional future evaluations and recommendations can be performed. 19 Page 151 of 185