Or. Admin. Code § 734-020-0010 - Establishment of Speed Limits on Interstate Highways (Except Variable Speed Zones, see OAR 734-020-0018)
(1)
Definitions:
(a) "Commission" means the
Oregon Transportation Commission.
(b) "Department" means the Oregon Department
of Transportation.
(c) "Trucks"
means a motor vehicle with a gross vehicle weight greater than 8,000 pounds
that is primarily designed or used for carrying or drawing loads other than
passengers.
(d) "Interstate
congestion level" means the ratio of average daily traffic volumes to capacity
for an interstate highway as reported by the Department's congestion management
system.
(e) "Rate" means the
number of crashes, injuries, or fatalities per vehicle miles traveled on a
lineal section of roadway.
(f)
"Speed Zone Review Panel" means the advisory committee created (by OAR
734-020-0015) to hear contested
speed zone cases on public roadways in Oregon. Membership consists of
representatives from the Oregon State Police, the Oregon Transportation Safety
Committee, the League of Oregon Cities, the Association of Oregon Counties and
the Department of Transportation.
(2) Process for Establishing a Speed Limit on
Sections of Interstate Highway Exceeding One Mile in Length. The following
procedures apply when the Department of Transportation proposes to establish a
speed limit on any section of interstate highway more than one mile in length
under ORS 810.180 (for less than one mile
see Section (3) of this rule):
(a) The
Department will establish sections of interstate highway for investigation
based on the site specific characteristics such as crash history, physical
conditions and traffic conditions. Sections will be as long as possible in
order to achieve consistency in speed zoning on interstate highways. For each
section of interstate highway under consideration the Department will prepare
an engineering investigation report that will include all of the following:
(A) The average speed and the speed at or
below which 85 percent of the vehicles sampled were traveling.
(B) Crash data to include the total number
and rates for all crashes, injuries and fatalities.
(C) Law enforcement review and input
including enforcement levels.
(D)
The speeds, the crash data, and the law enforcement input required by
paragraphs (A) through (C) of this subsection collected separately for trucks
and for all other vehicles.
(E)
Roadway geometry and physical characteristics, including curvature, interchange
spacing, lane widths, and shoulder widths.
(F) Traffic characteristics, including the
interstate congestion levels, average daily volumes, and the percentage of
trucks.
(G) Emergency medical
services availability, including response times.
(H) Trucking restrictions, including weight
and height restrictions.
(I) Type
and frequency of adverse road conditions, including weather, environment, and
visibility.
(b) The
Speed Zone Review Panel will determine if an issues report documenting
potential impacts, benefits, and issues related to changes in interstate
highway speed limits will be required and what items need to be included. The
report will be applicable to all sections of interstate highway under
consideration. The Speed Zone Review Panel may require the Department to
include one or more of the following items, but this does not limit the
Department to include only those items the Panel selects within the issues
report:
(A) Current available local, national
and international research on interstate highway speed limits changes as it
relates to:
(i) Changes in fatalities and
injuries and their corresponding impacts to emergency medical services and
trauma care;
(ii) Environmental
pollution and fuel efficiency issues; and
(iii) Economic effects, including changes in
travel efficiency and movement of goods.
(B) Speed enforcement practices.
(c) The Department will recommend
a speed that is indicated by the engineering investigation report required by
subsection (a) and an issues report if required by the Speed Zone Review Panel
in subsection (b) of this section to be reasonable and safe under the
conditions found to exist for each section of interstate highway being
considered.
(d) If the speed
recommended in subsection (c) of this section is greater or less than the
existing speed, the Department will prepare a draft rule specifying the
recommended speed(s) and present it to the Speed Zone Review Panel.
(e) The Speed Zone Review Panel will
determine if one or more public meetings in the same region as the section(s)
of interstate highway under consideration are required for the purpose of
receiving comments from the public. If public meetings are required, the
Department will provide notification to the public at least 30 days prior to
any such meeting.
(f) The
Department will prepare a report of the comments received at the public
meeting(s) required by subsection (e) of this section, including both general
comments and those for a specific section of interstate highway.
(g) The Speed Zone Review Panel will make a
recommendation to the Commission of a reasonable and safe speed for a section
of interstate highway under the conditions found to exist and as indicated by
the engineering investigation report, the issues report if required, and
comments received at the public meetings. A Panel report shall explain the
basis of the recommendation.
(h)
The Commission will hold a public hearing prior to adopting the final rule. The
Commission, after consideration of the recommendation and explanation from the
Speed Zone Review Panel, will make the final determination of a reasonable and
safe speed for a section of interstate highway under the conditions found to
exist and as indicated by the engineering report, the issues report if
required, and comments received at the public hearing. The Commission will then
adopt a rule establishing the interstate highway speed limit for each
section(s) of interstate highway under consideration.
(i) The new speed limit becomes enforceable
when signs are posted.
(3) Process for Establishing a Speed Limit
for Sections of Interstate Highway One Mile or Less. The following procedures
apply when the Department of Transportation proposes to designate a speed limit
or extend, shorten or otherwise modify the boundaries on any section of
designated speed limits for interstate highways which are currently listed in
OAR 734-020-0011, not to exceed one
mile:
(a) The Department will establish
sections of interstate highway for investigation based on the site-specific
characteristics such as crash history, physical conditions and traffic
conditions. For each section of interstate highway under consideration the
Department will prepare an engineering investigation report that will include
all of the following:
(A) The average speed
and the speed at or below which 85 percent of the vehicles sampled were
traveling;
(B) The crash rate for
the specific section of highway being considered;
(C) The average crash rate for similar
functional classification highways (if available);
(D) Roadway geometry and physical
characteristics, including number of lanes, curvature, interchange spacing,
lane widths, shoulder widths, and adjacent land use;
(E) Traffic characteristics, including the
interstate congestion levels, average daily volumes, and the percentage of
trucks.
(b) The maximum
length is one mile when establishing or modifying the boundaries of an existing
speed limit on the interstate under section (3) of this rule.
(c) The Department will recommend a speed
that is indicated by the engineering investigation report required by
subsection (a) of this section to be reasonable and safe under the conditions
found to exist for each section of interstate highway being considered to be
established, extended, shortened or modified.
(d) If the recommended speed limit boundary
in subsection (c) of this section exceeds the maximum length described in
subsection (b) of this rule, the Department will follow the applicable portions
of Section (2) of this rule to amend OAR
734-020-0011.
(e) For speed limit boundary changes, if the
speed recommended in subsection (c) of this section is greater or less than the
existing speed limit specified in OAR
734-020-0011, the Department
will prepare a draft rule specifying the changes to the boundaries and speed
limits depending on the recommendation.
(A)
The Speed Zone Review Panel will make a recommendation to the Commission of a
reasonable and safe speed for a section of interstate highway under the
conditions found to exist and as indicated by the engineering investigation
report. A Panel recommendation shall explain the basis of the proposal.
(B) The Commission may hold a
public hearing prior to adopting the final rule. The Commission, after
consideration of the recommendation and explanation from the Speed Zone Review
Panel, will make the final determination of appropriate boundaries for a
section of interstate highway under the conditions found to exist and as
indicated by the engineering report. The Commission may then adopt an amended
rule establishing a speed limit or modifying the existing interstate highway
speed limit boundaries for each section(s) of interstate highway under
consideration.
(f) The
new speed limit becomes enforceable when signs are posted.
(4) Process for review of
interstate highway speed limit:
(a) The
Department will, for the first four years after the establishment of any speed
limit on interstate highways under section (2), conduct an annual review of
crash and fatality history. A written record of the annual review will be
provided to the Governor's office and maintained by the Department.
(b) At any time that interstate highway crash
trends significantly change, the Department will perform an analysis of the
crash patterns on affected sections of interstate highway to determine if a
review of speed limits is appropriate.
(c) The Department may review an interstate
highway speed limit at any time at the discretion of the Commission or the
State Traffic-Roadway Engineer.
(d) If appropriate, the Department will
follow the process in section (2) or (3) as appropriate to initiate rulemaking
to make changes to the interstate speed designations.
Notes
Stat. Auth.: ORS 184.616, 184.619, 810.180, Ch. 819 OL 2003
Stats. Implemented: ORS 810.180, Ch. 819 OL 2003
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