Local Area Traffic Management Policy

Adopted by Council on 16 September 2013

Policy Goals

The purpose of this policy is to ensure requests for traffic calming devices / measures on municipal roads are assessed fairly and consistently.  Where traffic calming measures are deemed necessary, priority ranking is applied in a fair and consistent manner, along with sound financial management practices to ensure works are scheduled and implemented accordingly.    

Policy Implementation      

The Local Area Traffic Management (LATM) Policy process is broken into five stages as follows:

  1. Minimum Eligibility Criteria 
  2. Resident Support
  3. Detailed Traffic Study
  4. LATM Candidate List
  5. Design and Consult Stage  

In accordance with Section 4 – Urban Road Design of Latrobe City Council’s Design Guidelines (Design Guidelines for Subdivisional Developments, Urban and Rural Road and Drainage Construction and Traffic Management Projects), Council will only consider requests for traffic calming on municipal roads where the following Minimum Eligibility Criteria is met:

  • The road is classed as an Access Lane, Access Place, Minor Access Road or Major Access Road;
  • The speed limit applied to the road is 50 km/h or less;
  • The road is a minimum of 150 metres in length;
  • The 85th percentile speed of vehicles is more than 10% over the speed limit of the road OR the traffic volume is greater than the design volume of the road; and
  • The road elevation / incline / grade is not deemed excessive by Latrobe City Council.  

Note: Where a road is classed as a Collector or Link Road, traffic calming devices will not be considered by Council due to higher traffic speed and volume priority.   

Where the road meets the Minimum Eligibility Criteria, the Traffic Engineer will determine the study area, which will include all properties that would reasonably be affected by the installation of traffic calming devices.  

As traffic calming devices can have a significant impact upon street character and functionality of the road, resident support is critical to the outcome of the request. Therefore, requests for traffic calming devices will only be investigated where strong Resident Support is demonstrated by those in the identified study area. The Traffic Engineer will initiate contact with affected property owners by sending an information pack containing detailed information about the various forms of traffic calming devices, and a form for signing which confirms the property owner is in support of the request.  

Where at least 60% of the properties in the affected area respond in favour of the request to investigate the installation of traffic calming devices / measures, the Traffic Engineer will prioritise eligible requests by undertaking a Detailed Traffic Study using the following assessment criteria (refer also Attachment 2.):  

  • Traffic volume – vehicles per day; This is the 7-day average collated during the traffic survey which details the number of vehicles per day in both directions.
  • 85th percentile speeds – represents typical traffic speeds; The accepted major engineering parameter used when assessing vehicle speeds. It represents the speed that a reasonable person adopts, or feels comfortable with, according to the road environment.
  • Education facilities; For example, schools, kindergartens, child care centres, etc.
  • Activity generators; For example, parks, playgrounds, etc.
  • Accident statistics – indicates prevalence of accidents. Analysis of VicRoads ‘CrashStats’ crash data for the last 5 years to determine the amount of casualty accidents that have occurred. 

Note: this may only include accidents where speed is a major contributor.  

This ranking procedure is necessary, as demand for traffic calming devices far outweighs the capacity to fund the works.  Where there is insufficient support from residents within the study area, the installation of traffic calming devices may not be supported by Council (subject to safety concerns).  

Council will promote the highest ranking projects from the LATM Candidate List to a Design and Consult stage based on the estimated cost and Council’s allocated funding.  A detailed design will then be completed and released to affected residents for their feedback. Council will also undertake consultation with other affected stakeholders, such as emergency service providers and bus lines.  

Once Council deems sufficient support has been established from this consultation, works will be completed as part of Latrobe City Council’s Capital Works Program in accordance with applied rankings, funding and resource availability.   

Due to our changing environmental factors, roads that do not reach the Design and Consult stage after three years may be removed from the candidate list.  If a request is removed from the list and the affected property owners deem it is still necessary, they may re-apply to have the request re-considered.  

In some cases, the ranking and therefore timeframes set by Council may not reflect community preference.  In this case, all requests for traffic calming devices which reach the Detailed Traffic Study stage will be given the opportunity to form a Special Charge Scheme.  Special Charge Schemes allow community members to assist in funding the implementation of requested works, which in turn produces a shorter implementation timeframe.  Please refer to the Special Charge Scheme Policy for further detail.  

This policy has been reviewed after giving proper consideration to all the rights contained within the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006; and any reasonable limitation to human rights can be demonstrably justified.

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