TO: Mayor and Members of City Council
THRU: Adam Lindsay, ICMA-CM, Assistant City Manager
FROM: Sheila Thomas-Ambat, PE, Public Services Director
Brian McGill, PE, PTOE, Assistant Public Services Director - Traffic Services
DATE: September 22, 2025
RE:Title
Approve Speed Limit Reduction from 35 mph to 25 mph on Ruritan Drive/Campground Church Road, between Skibo Road and Morganton Road
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COUNCIL DISTRICT(S):
Council District(s)
District 9
b
Relationship To Strategic Plan:
Goal I: The City of Fayetteville will be a safe and secure community.
Objective 1.2: To ensure traffic and pedestrian safety.
Goal IV: The City of Fayetteville will be a highly desirable place to live, work and recreate.
Objective 4.5: To ensure a place for people to live in great neighborhoods.
Executive Summary:
City Council unanimously passed the motion at the September 2, 2025 Council Work Session to place the Council Member Request for Ruritan Drive and Campground Church Road’s speed limit reduction from 35 mph to 25 mph, and the request for speed humps, on the September 22, 2025 Regular Council Session consent agenda.
Should this speed limit reduction proceed, it would apply from the intersection of Ruritan Drive at Morganton Road, along Ruritan Drive until it changes into, and continues along, Campground Church Road, and ends at the intersection of Campground Church Road at Skibo Road. Following the speed limit reduction, the speed hump request process can follow the Residential Traffic Management Program (RTMP).
Background:
The current speed limit for Ruritan Drive and Campground Church Road is 35 mph, and it is posted with 35 mph speed limit signs. Ruritan Drive and Campground Church Road is a two-lane road, which is City-owned and maintained, with the subject section being approximately 3,600 feet long, or 0.68 miles long. It has limited sidewalks towards Skibo Road on Campground Church Road, and NCDOT defines it as a “local” road. The land-use abutting the road is primarily residential along Ruritan Drive, commercial along Campground Church Road, and institutional at the mid-point of the road. The institutional structures are a non-profit organization’s building, a church, and a graveyard.
The requested speed limit reduction would apply for the entirety of the road, from its intersection with Morganton Road to Skibo Road. Ruritan Drive and Campground Church Road within the limits previously defined is the only segment that would have its speed limit revised with this agenda item; Campground Church Road east of Skibo Road, Campground Church Road between Ruritan Drive and Nix Road, Skibo Road, Morganton Road, and all neighborhood roadways that branch off from Ruritan Drive/Campground Church Road would remain their current respective speed limits.
Following the City’s Residential Traffic Management Program (RTMP) for Speed Humps, attached to this agenda item, speed humps cannot be installed on roads that are posted greater than 25 mph. For this location to receive speed humps, its speed limit would have to be reduced. For a city-owned road to have its speed limit reduced in the City of Fayetteville, in this case from 35 mph to 25 mph, then City Council Policy 160.3 would apply. City Council Policy 160.3 is attached to this agenda item for reference.
Based on City Council Policy 160.3, to-date, staff have not received a petition to reduce the speed limit for Ruritan Drive/Campground Church Road, nor have knowledge of one being started.
City Council unanimously passed the motion at the September 2, 2025 Council Work Session to place Ruritan Drive/Campground Church Road’s speed limit reduction from 35 mph to 25 mph, and the request for speed humps, on the September 22, 2025 Regular Council Session consent agenda.
Issues/Analysis:
NCDOT’s “S-40_Brochure” says the following with regard to lowering speed limits in an effort to reduce speeding:
“Many people believe that lowering speed limits will reduce motorist speed. However, changing the speed limit is not always the best option. Speed limits are set at a limit that the roadway can safely accommodate by design, the majority of drivers will obey, and law enforcement can reasonably enforce. Engineering studies have shown that there are often no significant changes in vehicle speeds following the posting of an artificially reduced speed limit. This information shows that most motorists drive at the speed they consider to be comfortable and safe. If motorists are regularly exceeding the posted speed limit through an area, enforcement is key to ensuring compliance. Lowering the speed limit by itself cannot guarantee motorists will obey the new regulation.”
In preparation for the speed limit reduction, staff have performed a speed study over the days of September 8 - September 12, 2025. This study was performed based on three (3) traffic counters located on Ruritan Drive. All three (3) were on Ruritan Drive, located between Jarvis Street and Tarheel Drive, between Tarheel Drive and the 71st Ruritan Club building, and the 71st Ruritan Club building and Wintergreen Drive. The average daily traffic (ADT) observed during the study was 3,690 vehicles. The average speed observed during the study was 34 mph, with an 85th percentile speed of 40 mph.
85th percentile speed is the term used to reflect the speed at or below which 85 percent of traffic is moving.
As part of the Council Member Request for speed humps on this road, a follow-up speed study will be conducted at 25 mph after approximately three (3) weeks of the speed limit having been lowered, assuming this ordinance revision passes. The follow-up study should occur on the week of October 13, 2025, or October 20, 2025. Should this road qualify for speed humps based on the RTMP with the revised speed limit, we shall send ballots out to the affected area for community approval of installation near the beginning of November. We have included the map with the expected speed hump ballot area.
As advised by NCDOT’s S-40 brochure, by reducing the speed limit with no other enforcement or changes to the physical roadway in the area, staff expect “…no significant changes in vehicle speeds following the posting of an artificially reduced speed limit.” With no significant changes in vehicle speeds, staff expect the follow-up speed study to qualify for speed humps based on speed.
Staff have concern with installing speed humps on Ruritan Drive due to the amount of volume of vehicles that use the road.
Should this road qualify for the RTMP based on speed after the speed limit has been reduced, staff expect the volume will still exceed the RTMP volume limit. Should this occur, staff will inform Council, and will investigate what other options can be pursued for traffic calming on this road.
Ballot approval will still need to be sent to the ballot area to determine acceptance of installation should the road qualify for the RTMP following the speed limit reduction. That is to say, 70% of the ballot area and 100% of the houses adjacent to installation locations will need to support or approve the speed humps. Should the speed humps be approved, then they will be installed upon staff being notified of the study area approving.
Ballots are expected to be sent to the ballot area around November 3, 2025, as part of the next round of ballots to be mailed as part of the RTMP backlog reduction efforts. Following the RTMP deadlines, assuming the ballot area does not provide staff with 70% area-approval / adjacent-approval within 60 days of mailing out the ballots, the ballot will be closed. Should the ballot time-period close and 70% area-approval / 100% adjacent-approval is not received, staff will inform Council, and will investigate what other options can be pursued for traffic calming on this road.
Chapter 16, Motor Vehicles and Traffic, Article III, Traffic Schedules, Section 16-61, Traffic Schedules Adopted; City Manager Authorized to Compile., requires Council approve changes to these ordinances. Should this agenda item be approved, the speed limit revision for Ruritan Drive and Campground Church Road will be reflected in item 12 - Speed Control.
Budget Impact:
There is no noticeable impact to the budget for this change. All sign installation and maintenance costs will be within the existing Engineering and Infrastructure operating budget.
Options:
Adopt the ordinance revision
Reject the ordinance revision
Recommended Action::Recommended Action
Per City Council unanimously placing this item on the consent agenda, adopt the ordinance revision.
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Attachments:
Ruritan Drive and Campground Church Road - Speed Limit Reduction Ordinance
rtmp-speedhump_final
City Council Policy 160.3
S-40_Brochure
Speed Limit Study Area Map
Speed Hump Ballot Area Map