Auburn Traffic Committee Meeting - September 16, 2025
Auburn Traffic Committee Meeting - September 16, 2025
The Auburn Traffic Committee met on September 16, 2025 at 9:12 a.m. in City Hall Room 10, chaired by Police Chief Bryan Morrison. Present were Councilmember Sandy Mara and Public Works Director Mengil Deane; Planning Commissioner Mike Lehmberg was absent. The meeting addressed three agenda items: excessive speeds on Sawyer Street, a confusing traffic signal at Fairgate/Racetrack and Auburn Folsom Road, and a missing stop sign at the top of Tennis Way. The meeting adjourned at 9:19 a.m.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Ken (last name not provided) thanked the Traffic Committee and Public Works for recently installed speed limit signs on Eolia, noting visible improvement in driver behavior.
Discussion Items
- Sawyer Street Neighborhood Speeds: No neighborhood representative attended. Police Chief Morrison reported he had requested a data collector (speed tracker) be placed in front of Julie Ryan’s residence to measure actual speeds. A new data collector was recently acquired after older units failed.
- Fairgate/Racetrack & Auburn Folsom Stop Light Inquiry: Councilmember (likely Davis) raised confusion at the intersection, especially during fairground events, due to a single green light without dedicated turn arrows. Public Works Director Deane acknowledged ongoing discussions about adding a green arrow, potentially using camera-based signal actuation, and improving lane-use signage. He noted the pole at Fairgate is short but signage could be mounted on the traffic signal structure. The matter will be addressed, though not immediately.
- Missing Stop Sign at Tennis Way: A resident (referred to as “Jeff”) reported a missing stop sign at the top of Tennis Way. Committee members reviewed historical street-view images showing a pole but no sign since at least 2012. The committee agreed the sign should be replaced and stated it could be done easily. A brief discussion about foliage obstruction rules followed.
Key Outcomes
- Sawyer Street: A data collector has been placed to collect speed data; future action will depend on results.
- Fairgate/Racetrack Intersection: Staff will explore adding a green arrow, signal timing improvements, camera-based detection, and clearer lane signage. No timeline was set.
- Tennis Way Stop Sign: Staff directed to install a stop sign at the top of Tennis Way. The sign will be placed promptly.
- Additional Note: After adjournment, a citizen reported a non-functioning light (bulb) at the intersection of High Street and Auburn Folsom Road; this was not a stoplight issue and was noted informally.
No formal votes were taken; all actions were by consensus.
Meeting Transcript
Okay. So here we have police chief Brian Morrison, Councilmember Sandy Mara, Public Works Director Mendel Dean, Mike Limberg, which is a planning commissioner is absent. And guests we have Ken, Gus, and Kelly here to speak on items. So call to order at 912. Public comment for items not on the agenda. Ken. Yes, please. Just wanted to thank the traffic committee for the signs that they've installed on the eolia. We are seeing some improvement. And we do appreciate it. And when you get back and get some positive reinforcement, and thank you to public work for all their hard effort. Thank you. Thank you. It's very narrow. There's a study done a few years ago that identified some 10 mile an hour signs needed to go out, and it just never went out. So now we put them out. Cool. Awesome committee business. Item number one is some neighbors in the Sawyer Street neighborhood concerned about excessive speeds. And I have the email attached. It appears that nobody is in attendance for is that near the cemetery? Sawyer Street. No. Sawyer Street is well, yes. Yes, it is. It's yeah, because it's kind of connected to Nevada Street in some way. Okay, the over there. Yeah. But I believe the chief has some information about action. Yeah. So given the um concern of speed, um, I went ahead and requested that the data collector be placed as of right now in front of uh Miss Ryan's residence, unless they get out there and they see that there's a place that appears to um where they uh drivers would have gained more speed than right in front of our house just to get an accurate reading on data. So perfect. Awesome. Thank you. Do we own a data collector? We had two. There's they were old, they went down. We just got a brand new. So cool. Yeah. Okay. Next item is yours. If you want to talk about sure, oh you have it. Yes. Um, so I just wanted to ask about this light at the fairgrounds and racetrack. A lot of people coming out of the fairgrounds and out of racetrack have issues just knowing how to navigate it because there's like one green, you know, but then people coming out of racetrack are turning. People coming out of the fairgrounds are sometimes going straight, and there's just for people who live in fairground or in racetrack, or they're like a lot of teenagers and they're now confused. So it's not timing, it's just the confusion of it's just confusion of like, you know, does the left turn yield? Are we gonna have does it need a green arrow? There's just a green light.
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