Rutherford Canyon residents press council for traffic calming; council directs outreach and a speed study

The Loomis Town Council moved to begin neighborhood outreach and technical work to address speeding and pedestrian safety on Rutherford Canyon. Residents and the Rutherford Canyon homeowners association presented camera data and a unanimous HOA resolution asking the town to install speed humps (lumps/tables), resurface a decomposed‑granite equestrian/pathway, and keep the road designated as a 25‑mph local street.

Merrill, the town engineer, briefed the council on the town’s existing February 2004 traffic management policy and a more refined Placer County traffic calming manual (2007) staff recommended as a useful reference. He said Rutherford Canyon is formally signed as 25 mph in the circulation element but does not qualify as a residential district under the California Vehicle Code (which requires a denser frontage of homes within a quarter mile), so the posted 25‑mph limit is not automatically enforceable; an engineering traffic speed study would establish a legally enforceable speed based on 85th‑percentile measurement.

HOA vice president Lee DeMonaco said his board’s camera counts show average speeds of about 39–40 mph and recounted multiple instances of property damage and near misses. “None of these measures have worked thus far,” he said, noting prior speed‑limit signage, a solar speed‑feedback sign and lane‑narrowing striping. Other residents recounted near misses with pedestrians and dogs and urged quicker action. Several speakers also recommended regrading the pedestrian path adjacent to the roadway to encourage non‑motorized users off the pavement.

Council heard technical tradeoffs: aggressive rounded speed bumps can hinder emergency vehicles and are no longer standard in many jurisdictions; more gradual speed tables or lumps with emergency‑vehicle wheel gaps are an alternative. The council voted to direct staff to gauge neighborhood support, pursue an engineering speed study and then return with proposed designs and a funding plan; the council also asked staff to return both the town’s prior policy and the Placer County manual for comparison. The motion to begin outreach and the technical study passed with council concurrence.

Next steps: staff will conduct an engineering traffic survey (85th percentile speed), coordinate neighborhood outreach and ballots per policy, and return to council with design options and estimated costs for construction and any recommended funding approach.