UPDATE: Speed Humps Allowed to Slow Traffic in Neighborhoods

The San Clemente City Council Tuesday evening unanimously adopted policies that would allow speed humps to slow traffic in residential neighborhoods.

According to the staff report,  speed humps would be considered on residential streets only after other, less intrusive measures were implemented to reduce speed.

City Manager George Scarborough told council that the decision to install the humps would also have to be approved by the majority of residents on a street.

"It would have to be a neighborhood decision," he said.

Speed humps are lower and wider than speed bumps.

The streets, to qualify for the installation of 12-foot-wide, 3-inch-high humps, would have to be 25 mph residential streets, the average traffic volume would have to be 500 to 3,000 vehicles per day, and 15 percent of those would have to exceed 32 mph.

Some residents spoke in favor of the policy at the meeting.

"I encourage the city council to pass the proposed speed hump policy," said resident Steve Mullin. "I've been in favor of ths for 10 years."

The Orange County Fire Authority could mandate that any speed humps include wheel cutouts to prevent slowing emergency vehicles, one of the concerns about speed bumps that the staff raised in the report.

Staffers were also concerned about liability issues. Motorists’ cars could be damaged by driving over the humps.