The Newport City Council on June 17 held a public hearing to accept testimony about a plan to reduce the speed limits on Oceanview Drive, a popular city street that provides access to the Agate Beach Wayside and also serves as a bypass to a section of Highway 101.
At a meeting on April 15, the city council had approved a plan to implement a number of traffic control changes on that road, and this month’s public hearing was held specifically to consider an ordinance implementing new designated speeds for Oceanview.
The recommendation approved in April called for reducing the speed limit from Northwest Spring Street to Northwest 19th Court from 25 mph to 20 mph, continuing the current 25 mph speed limit from 19th Court to Edenview Way, and reducing speed limits from 35 mph to 30 mph between Edenview Way and Highway 101. However, that last change — dropping from 35 to 30 mph — hit a bump in the road.
City Manager Spencer Nebel said the city received comments from the Oregon Department of Transportation the week prior to the council’s public hearing, “and it was their opinion that Oceanview Drive is not eligible for reducing speed (under state law) from Northwest 33rd Street to Edenview Way,” he said.
City Attorney David Allen said there is a statutory speed on all city streets of 25 mph, which had been the speed on all of Oceanview Drive until around 10 years ago when the speed on the particular section in question was increased to 35. When that was done, the limit for that specific area became what is known as a “designated speed,” and ODOT is questioning whether a designated speed of 35 mph can be lowered to 30 mph under state law. However, Allen said they may be able to drop back to the original statutory speed of 25 mph, and that is a conversation that he, the community development director and city engineer will be having with ODOT officials.
During the public hearing, a letter from Newport resident Carla Perry was read into the record. Perry wrote, “The posted speeds along Oceanview Drive do not seem to be the problem for pedestrians and bicyclists traveling along that north-south route. The problem remains the lack of sidewalks and the narrow curving roadway where pedestrians and bicycles share the road with vehicles.”
Perry believes motorists will continue to disregard posted speeds even when the vehicle’s excessive speed is displayed on radar feedback signs. “A better solution, since the city does not intend to widen the road or provide sidewalks, would be to add stripes indicating pedestrian crossings at a few major intersections along that route,” she wrote.
The council also heard testimony from several members of the audience.
Mike Clark, who has lived on Oceanview Drive since 1980, said the traffic has increased exponentially over the years. “Thank you for considering the slower speed limits. Some people will see those signs and observe them — probably mostly tourists, but not locals. I think lowering the speed limits will be somewhat effective, but the real thing that will make a difference is if we put speed signs taking pictures of people speeding.”
Lindsey Brown, who also lives along Oceanview, said, “Despite living less than a third of a mile from the Agate Beach access, I feel safer driving there than walking. I would describe the road in front of my house as the Newport speedway, with many drivers well in excess of 40 miles per hour in both directions.” But she said Oceanview is, in fact, a residential street and a gateway to a heavy-use beach access. “Changing to a 25 mph throughout the whole stretch, all the way to 101, would be more ideal to completely eliminate any acceleration zone there and limit any confusion for motorists of consistency of 25 mph.”
Nebel pointed out that the public hearing was dealing with just the speed limit issue, and other traffic calming measures approved by the city council on April 15 are already in the works. One is to remove vegetation in the street right-of-way and on some private properties to improve the line of sight. Another is to install pre-fabricated speed humps at five locations with the appropriate advanced warning signage. There will also be pedestrian crossing warning signs and other signage installed.
“I think moving forward with the recommendations that were outlined first, and then evaluating that, to me would make the most sense at this point,” said Nebel. “I think the changes that were approved are going to make a difference in the speed that people travel on that road, and it will be a continued work in progress to try to make it as safe as we can.”
Mayor Jan Kaplan agreed. “Part of what we’ve dealt with over a long period of time has been so many different recommendations that we didn’t get anything done, and this feels like a step of actually implementing something. It doesn’t stop us from doing further improvement.”
Because of the issue raised by ODOT regarding lowering the speed on the 35 mph section, the council decided to continue the public hearing until a special meeting scheduled for Monday, July 1, at 6 p.m. If they have gotten the matter with ODOT resolved by that time, the council will be asked to approve the original speed ordinance as presented, lowering the one section from 35 to 30. If, however, that issue hasn’t been resolved yet, the council will vote on an ordinance approving everything but dropping the 35 mph speed limit, and that section will be dealt with separately with another ordinance at a later meeting.
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