Lake Forest Park traffic studies

From Police Chief Steve Sutton

Over the past several months, the City has been assisted by King County Roads Department with the completion of several traffic speed studies in our neighborhoods. I have included some of the data below for your information, which includes traffic counts, speeds, and some enforcement data.

Many of our roads are 25-30mph roads and even if vehicles are traveling at the speed limit, they may often appear to be speeding. The police department does have one traffic officer that works on special projects and coordinates our emphasis areas. The good news is, we rarely have collisions on our neighborhood streets. The problems are predominately on Bothell Way and Ballinger Way. Here is the info:

NE 178th St at 25th Ave NE

There are about 5,200 vehicles per day using this roadway, with an even split in each direction. The average speed is 28.1 mph and the 85 percentile speed is 31.8 mph. This is higher than we would like to see on a roadway posted 25 mph. During the month of October / November officers issued 153 infraction and 4 criminal citations.

Perkins Way NE at Lago Dr NE

There are about 3,000 vehicles per day using this roadway, with an even split in each direction. The average speed is 25.9 mph and the 85 percentile speed is 29.4 mph. The speeds on the roadway are slightly higher than we like for roadways with this volume. Random patrols and the use of the speed notification sign will be utilized in 2016.

Forest Park Dr NE at NE 195th Pl

There are about 2,500 vehicles per day using this roadway, with an even split in each direction. The average speed is 28.5 mph and the 85 percentile speed is 32.0 mph. The speed on this roadway is higher than we would like to see. The roadway seems to be functioning as a collector arterial, moving vehicles between NE 196th St / 19th Ave NE and the signal at Ballinger / 25th Ave NE. In 2016, the City will be researching traffic calming devices which could be used to discourage the use of this roadway. Also, random patrols and the use of the speed notification sign will be utilized.

NE 178th St between Ballinger Way NE and 47th Ave NE

There are about 1,250 vehicles per day using this roadway. The speeds on this 25 mph roadway are well within the acceptable limits. The directional split shows about 725 vehicles eastbound, and 525 vehicles westbound. The average speed is 22.1 miles per hour. The 85 percentile speed is 25.5 mph. These are excellent numbers and mean that nearly all the traffic on the roadway is obeying the posted limit.

The Police Department has received complaints on several other roadways within the City and will continue to prioritize our enforcement based on staffing and availability of resources.