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I2. Airport Road School Zone31z 1µ Ave, Eayf — PO f3o-w 1997 — Kadi f>el,L, MT 59903 Tatpf &" (406) 758 -7780 - Farw (406) 758 -779 q &-ma,-L - k,p"k4,( 4p-e-Uao. v,, Striving to Exceed Expectations' REPORT TO: Doug Russell, City Manager 01-� FROM: Interim Chief Wade Rademacher SUBJECT: Airport Road School Zone MEETING DATE: October 1, 2018 BACKGROUND: In the capacity of Interim Kalispell Police Chief and pursuant to MCA § 61-8-310, I am requesting that the Kalispell City Council, by resolution, establish a School Zone on that length of Airport Road that abuts the parcel owned by the Kalispell School District 5 on which is situated the newly constructed Jeannette Rankin Elementary School. The subject parcel has been annexed into the City and the school is now occupied with students and teachers. Airport Road is under the jurisdiction of the State of Montana that had previously set the speed limit for this portion of the roadway at 45 miles per hour. Upon the opening of the school the State lowered the speed limit for this portion of the road to 35 miles per hour pursuant to the formula set forth in MCA §61-8-310 (1)(d). The City may request that a traffic study be conducted to determine if the speed can be further reduced, but it must first establish this portion of roadway as a designated School Zone. Once the School Zone is established, the Police Department and the Department of Public Works will consult with the School District and the Montana Department of Transportation to coordinate the steps necessary to consider a future reduction in the speed limit for that portion of roadway. ATTACHMENTS: Resolution 5902 MCA, Title 61, Chapter 8, Part 3 RESOLUTION NO.5902 A RESOLUTION DESIGNATING THAT PORTION OF AIRPORT ROAD ABUTTING KALISPELL SCHOOL DISTRICT NO.5 PROPERTY CONTAINING THE JEANNETTE RANKIN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AS A SCHOOL ZONE. WHEREAS, Airport Road, a street located in the City of Kalispell, is under the jurisdiction of the State of Montana Department of Transportation (MDOT); and WHEREAS, Airport Road abuts a parcel owned by the Kalispell School District No. 5 and within the City of Kalispell on which is situated the newly constructed Jeannette Rankin Elementary School; and WHEREAS, upon the opening of the school MDOT lowered the speed limit for this portion of the road from 45 miles per hour to 35 miles per hour pursuant to the formula set forth in MCA §61-8-310 (1)(d); and WHEREAS, the City of Kalispell may request that a traffic study be conducted to determine if the speed should be further reduced, but it must first establish this portion of roadway as a designated School Zone; and WHEREAS, the Kalispell City Council hereby finds that it is in the best interests of the public safety of its citizens and guests to request a traffic study to determine a safe speed for this portion of Airport Road. NOW, TIIEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF TI1E CITY OF KALISPELL AS FOLLOWS: SECTION I. That portion of Airport Road within the City of Kalispell that abuts the Kalispell School District No. 5 property containing the Jeanette Rankin Elementary School is hereby designated as a School Zone. PASSED AND APPROVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL AND SIGNED BY THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF KALISPELL, THIS 1 ST DAY OF OCTOBER, 2018. Mark Johnson Mayor ATTEST: Aimee Brunckhorst, CMC City Clerk TITLE 61. MOTOR VEHICLES CHAPTER 8. TRAFFIC REGULATION Part 3. Vehicle Operating Requirements When Local Authorities May And Shall Alter Limits Or Establish Or Alter Area Of School Zone 61-8-310. When local authorities may and shall alter limits or establish or alter area of school zone. (1) If a local authority in its jurisdiction determines on the basis of an engineering and traffic investigation that the speed permitted under 61-8-303 and 61-8-309 through 61-8-313 is greater or less than is reasonable and safe under the conditions found to exist upon a highway or part of a highway, the local authority may set a reasonable and safe limit that: (a) decreases the limit at an intersection; (b) increases the limit within an urban district, but not to more than 65 miles an hour during the nighttime; (c) decreases the limit outside an urban district, but not to less than 35 miles an hour on a paved road or less than 25 miles an hour on an unpaved road; or (d) decreases the limit in a school zone or in an area near a senior citizen center, as defined in 23-5-112, or a designated crosswalk that is close to a school or a senior citizen center to not less than 80%, rounded down to the nearest whole number evenly divisible by 5, of the limit that would be set on the basis of an engineering and traffic investigation, but not less than 15 miles an hour. If warranted by an engineering and traffic investigation, a local authority may adopt variable speed limits to adapt to traffic conditions by time of day, provided that the variable limits comply with the provisions of 61-8-206. (2) A board of county commissioners may set limits, as provided in subsection (1)(c), without an engineering and traffic investigation on a county road. (3) A local authority in its jurisdiction may determine the proper speed for all arterial streets and shall set a reasonable and safe limit on arterial streets that may be greater or less than the speed permitted under 61-8-303 for an urban district. (4) (a) An altered limit established as authorized under this section is effective at all times or at other times determined by the authority when appropriate signs giving notice of the altered limit are erected upon the highway. (b) If a local authority decreases a speed limit in a school zone, the local authority shall erect signs conforming with the manual adopted by the department of transportation under 61-8-202 giving notice that the school zone has been entered, of the altered speed limit and the penalty provided in 61-8-726, and that the school zone has ended. (5) Except as provided in subsection (1)(d), the commission has exclusive jurisdiction to set special speed limits on all federal -aid highways or extensions of federal -aid highways in all municipalities or urban areas. The commission shall set these limits in accordance with 61-8-309. (6) A local authority establishing or altering the area of a school zone shall consult with the department of transportation and the commission if the school zone includes a state highway or a federal -aid highway or extension of a federal -aid highway. (7) A local authority shall consult with district officials for a school when: (a) establishing or altering the area of a school zone near the school; or (b) setting a speed limit pursuant to subsection (1)(d) in a school zone near the school. (8) A speed limit set on an unpaved road under subsection (1)(c) must be the same for all types of motor vehicles that may be operated on the road. (9) The violation of a speed limit established under subsections (1)(a) through (1)(c) is a misdemeanor offense and is punishable as provided in 61-8-711. The violation of a speed limit established under subsection (1)(d) is a misdemeanor offense and is punishable as provided in 61-8-726. History: En. Sec. 43, Ch. 263, L. 1955; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 89, L. 1971; amd. Sec. 57, Ch. 316, L. 1974; R.C.M. 1947, 32-2146; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 614, L. 1985; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 686, L. 1991; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 213, L. 1993; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 287, L. 1995; amd. Sec. 5, Ch. 43, L. 1999; amd. Sec. 198, Ch. 542, L. 2005; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 83, L. 2009; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 204, L. 2011; amd. Sec. 7, Ch. 393, L. 2013.