On April 7 the Hayward City Council approved a plan to reduce speeds in the city. The speed management plan will be implemented immediately, with visible changes on roads, additional signs and red-light cameras.
The city worked on the plan since December 2024, starting with gathering data. The findings say that fatalities and severe injuries involving pedestrians or bicyclists happen when drivers are driving at only 30 miles per hour.
The plan includes three solutions. The first is a speed reduction toolbox with 44 different ways to manage speed. Those ways include roundabouts, no-right-turn-on-red signs, speed feedback signs and traffic safety campaigns.
Another solution involves prioritizing areas where people are speeding, called speed reduction corridors. The corridors are on Hesperian Boulevard, Industrial Boulevard, Huntwood Avenue between Shafer and West Tennyson Road, Calaroga Avenue and Santa Clara Street between Winton Avenue and West Jackson Street.
City staff said a plan was developed for each of the identified areas, with recommendations on signs, high visibility crosswalks, installing bike lanes and more.
The final phase and solution is institutionalizing speed management. This includes safety demonstration projects, automated speed cameras and red light cameras. Safety demonstration events will be a chance for the public to provide feedback on the changes taking place on city roads and intersections.
The city plans to collaborate with emergency services to see how well the speed management plan causes drivers to actually slow down.
