East Lansing Updates Process for Community to Petition for Traffic Calming Features

East Lansing recently updated its process for residents to petition for stop signs, raised crosswalks, speed humps and other traffic calming measures they think will benefit the community.

East Lansing residents have long advocated for safer routes to school for their children and a calmer traffic landscape in the interest of health and safety. However, some residents have expressed frustration over attending various city meetings and feeling like local bureaucracy has prevented their concerns from being addressed.

In an effort city leaders hope will better engage dialogue about possible traffic calming decisions, East Lansing City Council approved an updated process last month for residents to raise their concerns surrounding traffic safety.

Under the revised process, residents can recommend traffic calming measures by gathering signatures from: 25% of households if more than five households are impacted, 100% of households if five or fewer are impacted or the Neighborhood Association.

The Transportation Commission put a lot of time and effort to hear out residents’ concerns and create this process, Councilmember Steven Whelan said just before the council approved the measure unanimously during their July 21 meeting.

“I really appreciate the collaborative efforts … and the fact that you [staff] really are listening to the neighborhoods,’ Whelan said.

A request for the city to consider traffic solutions can be submitted by an East Lansing resident, property owner, a neighborhood association recognized by the city or a local school or school organization such as a school’s parent teacher association.

The process directs city staff to meet with the petitioners with a qualified request and conduct appropriate studies and data collections to determine possible remedies to any concerns raised in the petition.

As a part of the process, city staff are expected to consider local feedback from entities like neighborhood associations, police and nearby neighbors or property owners.

If city staff determine that a traffic calming project would serve the community, any address in the project area and the appropriate neighborhood association board would receive a copy of the recommended project and have the opportunity to indicate support or opposition for the project. If more than 50% of returned responses support the proposed plan, the East Lansing Transportation Commission will review the project and issue a recommendation, before the measure is considered by the City Council.

Compared the previous process to have traffic calming measures put in place, Engineering Administrator Stephen Clayton said at the July 21 meeting that this process is more robust and offers routes for residents if their initial efforts are unsuccessful.