To: Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council
From: Fabio Rodriguez, Police Chief and Julie Lucido, Public Works Director
Prepared By: Aaron Medina, Police Sargeant and Jessica Lowe, Deputy Public Works Director
TITLE:
Title
Informational Presentation on Traffic Safety Projects-1st Street/Browns Valley Road and Automated Red Light Enforcement Program
LABEL
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommendation
Receive an informational presentation on the recently implemented 1st Street/Browns Valley Road Project and Automated Red Light Enforcement Program, along with data collection efforts for these projects that will be reported annually for City Council Meetings going forward.
Body
DISCUSSION:
The City Council designated Roads and Traffic Safety as one of the City of Napa’s six focus areas. These focus areas were identified to support the budget preparation process and program resources to address some of the most pressing needs and opportunities. On January 16, 2024, the City Council adopted a resolution in support of the countywide Vision Zero Plan and its goal of eliminating traffic collisions resulting in severe injuries or fatalities by 2030.
The California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) analyzes statewide collision data and publishes crash rankings for all cities and counties (see: https://www.ots.ca.gov/media-and-research/crash-rankings/). The City of Napa ranks in the bottom 10% of similarly sized cities for overall traffic safety based on total fatal and injury crashes, as well as the OTS composite score, which includes collisions related to hit-and-run incidents, speeding, nighttime driving, and alcohol involvement. It should be noted that OTS crash rankings lag approximately three years and the most recent OTS published ranking is from 2022.
This consistently low ranking among peer cities is unacceptable. Recently completed and planned traffic safety projects and programs have been developed to improve overall roadway safety for all users. The Police Department and the Public Works Department jointly lead these efforts to support safer streets throughout the community.
Citywide Roadway Safety Planning
In 2022, the City completed a Local Roadway Safety Plan (LRSP) to take a data-driven approach to traffic safety. The LRSP analyzed collisions resulting in injuries or fatalities between 2016 and 2020, incorporated over 500 community comments collected during the public engagement process, and recommended countermeasures to address the cause of recorded collisions.
Traffic safety requires a comprehensive, systems-based approach incorporating the “4 E’s” of traffic safety: Engineering, Enforcement, Education, and Emergency Medical Services.
Over the past several years, the City has implemented a range of traffic safety and traffic calming measures citywide, including:
• Enhanced crosswalk striping
• Reduced speed limits
• Flashing pedestrian beacons
• Pedestrian refuge island/raised median
• Sidewalk bulb-outs
• Buffered bike lanes
• New stop signs and traffic signals
• Radar speed feedback signs
• Bicycle and pedestrian paths with freeway undercrossing
• Initiation of a new Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program
• Automated Red Light Traffic Enforcement Program
• DUI enforcement including checkpoints
• Know Your Limits Program (alcohol awareness program)
• Ride to Live Program (motorcycle safety training)
1st Street/Browns Valley Road Project
A focus of the presentation will be the newly constructed 1st Street/Browns Valley Road Project, aimed at improving traffic safety along a corridor identified as part of the City’s High Injury Network in the Local Roadway Safety Plan. This is a residential roadway that provides access to homes, schools, and parks, and improving traffic safety to reduce the number of deaths and injuries is critical.
The project repaved the roadway and made modifications based on proven traffic safety design features incorporated into projects throughout the country. It included the City’s first bicycle facilities separated from vehicle lanes by on-street parking, and the design intentionally narrows vehicle lanes to encourage slower driving speeds and provides greater separation for people biking. Construction of the primary features was completed in August.
To date, community feedback has been mixed. Some residents have expressed appreciation for the safety improvements and noted that bicycling feels safer. Others have raised concerns regarding the proximity of parked cars to travel lanes, reduced visibility at driveways and intersections, and the design of the new pedestrian refuge island.
In response to community input, staff has already implemented adjustments, such as removing specific parking spaces to increase visibility and extending the parking marks into the edge of the vehicle lanes to provide a visual cue to drivers to maintain more space from parked cars. Additional modifications are planned, including installing permanent radar speed feedback signs and refining the future pedestrian refuge median design near Robinson Lane, which will be constructed following the Utilities Department’s emergency water transmission main replacement project.
Data collection efforts are already underway, but information over several years will be needed before trends can be meaningfully evaluated. Collision data, collected during construction periods and in the months following roadway modifications when users acclimate to new configurations, is not expected to be representative of long-term results. The primary performance measure will be a reduction in fatal and injury collisions and vehicle speeds. Data related to property damage only collisions will also be considered, but the fatal and injury collisions hold a much higher significance due to their impact. Staff will present updated collision data to the City Council annually going forward and continue to monitor the operations and be responsive to feedback.
Automated Red Light Enforcement Program
The purpose of the Automated Red Light Enforcement Program is to improve the safety of the community for vehicular, bicycle, and pedestrian traffic by reducing the incidents of vehicles failing to stop for red traffic signals. Photo enforcement programs have a proven record for reducing right angle collisions at monitored intersections. The California Vehicle Code authorizes their deployment.
The City Council first approved a program in 2006, and the City maintained the automated red light enforcement program operations from 2009 through 2017. Collisions at the four automated red light enforcement program intersections during this initial period of operation were reduced by 40%. From 2006 through 2015, traffic volumes increased but collisions caused by drivers running a red light decreased 59% and collisions on a citywide basis were observed to be down 13%.
In 2023, City Council authorized a contract to reinitiate the Automated Red Light Enforcement Program. Four intersections were prioritized for the system based on the City’s High Injury Network intersections identified in the Local Roadway Safety Plan and specific location criteria including collision types (head-on, broadside, and right of way violations), frequency of red light violations, and traffic speeds and volumes. The four intersections include:
• Redwood Road and Solano Avenue
• Soscol Avenue and Lincoln Avenue
• SR 29 and Trower Avenue
• Soscol Avenue and Imola Avenue
Currently, the Redwood Road/Solano Avenue and Soscol Avenue/Lincoln Avenue systems are operational. The remaining two intersections are anticipated to have the systems operational in early 2026.
The first camera began enforcing in March 2025 and the systems for the first two intersections were fully operational - enforcing all lanes in all directions - by September 7, 2025. While preliminary data will be shared, the program is in its early stages, and several months of data are needed before trends can be reliably evaluated. Staff will continue to collect data and provide reports for City Council Meetings annually going forward.
Each potential red-light violation goes through multiple levels of review to ensure that only legitimate violations result in citations:
• Two individuals at the City’s contractor, Elovate, independently review the footage.
• If both reviewers determine a violation occurred, Elovate obtains DMV information for the vehicle.
• The footage and vehicle information are forwarded to the City of Napa.
• A Napa Police Department reviewer confirms whether a violation occurred.
• If confirmed, a citation is issued in accordance with California Vehicle Code §440518.
• The citation is mailed to the registered owner along with images and a link to the associated video, and a copy of the citation is sent to the Napa County Superior Court.
The Napa County Superior Court determines fines, fees, and traffic school eligibility and collects all payments. The City does not collect citation revenue directly. After processing, the court distributes a portion to the City. Funds received from citations are reinvested into traffic safety programs. Previous expenditures with these funds included pedestrian flashing beacons, radar speed feedback signs, youth bicycle helmets, and a portable radar trailer. So far since the reinitiation of the red light program, a dedicated Community Service Officer and a new vehicle were budgeted for work on the program. The number of violations and the associated revenue is anticipated to decrease over time as driver behavior changes.
To provide additional information for the community, the Police Department has developed a Frequently Asked Questions webpage that can be found at: https://www.cityofnapa.org/Faq.aspx?TID=72 . A transparency page is also being developed to show the number of potential violations captured, the number of citations issued, and the number of events that were not violations.
FINANCIAL IMPACTS:
There is no fiscal impact. On-going data collection and reporting will be supported through existing operational budgets.
CEQA:
The Public Works Director has determined that the Recommended Action described in this Agenda Report is not in-and-of-itself a “project” (pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15378) since it does not result in a physical change in the environment.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
NONE
NOTIFICATION:
None.