Drivers wanting to quickly zip out of Petaluma southbound may have caught a reprieve from the radar gun.
But police say they still will be watching.
City traffic engineers and police wanted to reduce the radar-enforceable speed limit by 10 mph on a small section of Petaluma Boulevard South between a new roundabout at Crystal Lane to the southern city limits.
That's where motorists swing out of the roundabout and accelerate out of town toward Highway 101.
A traffic survey showed the existing 45-mph limit should be reduced to 35 mph, traffic engineer Curt Bates said. That's based on a calculation showing 85 percent of drivers on that stretch were traveling at or below 35 mph.
But when the issue came before the City Council last month, several members expressed concern that the slower zone was being set up as a speed trap for unwary drivers.
About 100 yards down the street is county jurisdiction, where the limit remains 45 mph, they noted. Motorists accelerating as they leave town would be artificially held to the lower standard, some council members said.
"Are we going to be writing tickets for people who are doing 40 mph a hundred yards before the city limits?" Councilman Mike Healy posed.
At the July meeting, Councilwoman Teresa Barrett and Mayor David Glass said the zone, intentionally or not, could be viewed as a speed trap.
"It's artificial," Barrett said. "It seems overkill."
"It's just not consumer friendly," Glass said.
For police to legally use radar to ticket motorists, roads must undergo surveys that gauge how fast traffic actually travels, whatever the posted limit. Limits are adjusted based on those studies and the council must pass an ordinance noting the limit. If a limit is set differently than what the study shows, it cannot be legally enforced by radar.
At Monday night's City Council meeting, the Police Department, faced with the council's previous opposition, withdrew its request to enforce the limit by radar along that stretch of Petaluma Boulevard South.
Police still can manually estimate the speed of a driver and issue tickets accordingly, City Attorney Eric Danly said.
Bates said the area would be posted with yellow-and-black "advisory" 35-mph signs based on the speed study's findings, as opposed to the typical black-and-white "regulatory" speed limit signs.
The 35-mph mark would be a recommended safe speed, traffic Sgt. Ken Savano said.
The council voted 4-0 to tentatively pass an ordinance changing the radar-enforceable speed limit on three other roads — Petaluma Boulevard South from McNear Avenue to the roundabout from 45 mph down 35 mph, Second Street from D to G streets to 25 mph and Redwood Way from North McDowell Boulevard to Old Redwood Highway to 30 mph. Previous speed limits for Second Street and Redwood Way were not listed.
Glass and Mike Harris were absent for the vote, and Tiffany Renee recused herself because she lives on one of the streets affected.
After the vote, there appeared to be some confusion among council members as to whether their vote kept the legal speed limit at 45 mph south of the roundabout, as their previous comments specified.
The ordinance will return for further discussion and a formal vote, likely at the next regular meeting.
You can reach Staff Writer Lori A. Carter at 762-7297 or lori.carter@pressdemocrat.com.
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