A head’s up to drivers in Los Osos, the speed limit on the main road in town is about to drop.
County Supervisors recently updated the speed limits of several County maintained roads including a long segment of Los Osos Valley Road through Los Osos.
County Public Works presented Supervisors with two Resolutions in July one dealing with the speed limit changes and the other with overnight parking regulations in Cambria and San Simeon.
LOVR speed limit starting at Palisades Avenue at6 the Community Park, west to the entrance of Montaña de Oro State Park was reduced from 40 mph to 35 mph, according to a County report.
The speed limit on Las Tablas Road in Templeton was also lowered to 35 mph. The County posted Huasna Road in rural Arroyo Grande at 40 mph and expanded the speed limit zone on Lopez Lake Road as well.
The changes were the result of new Engineering and Traffic Surveys (E&TS), which is required under the California Vehicle Codes for speed limits to be legally enforceable.
The County anticipates the Highway Patrol will be doing traffic enforcement on these roads, though Sheriff’s deputies and city police officers are also empowered by the E&TS for traffic enforcement like speeding.
“These surveys,” reads a County report, “include analysis of roadway conditions, collision report history, and examination of the prevailing speed of vehicular traffic. A safe and reasonable limit is set at or below the speed at which 85% of vehicles travel. CHP is the agency that enforces speed limits on County roads.”
As for the parking changes in San Simeon and Cambria, Supervisors were asked to change maps with regards to the areas that could ban or restrict overnight parking. When Supervisors visited the issue last March the Resolution didn’t match the map.
“The accompanying vicinity maps,” reads the report, “correctly depicted the town boundaries; however, the previously adopted Resolution referenced the Community Service District boundaries as opposed to the respective Urban Reserve and Village Reserve Lines.”
Now the two North Coast communities can only ban overnight parking in town proper, as a CSD’s jurisdictional boundaries often include rural lands outside town, as for example might be included in a CSD’s fire district.
The costs for the changes were listed at $2,250 for new speed limit signs.
