Traffic in Neighborhoods

Step 1.Define your concern

If your concern involves the issues below, you can request help thought our San Marcos App.

• Traffic signal timing
• Parking enforcement
• Large truck traffic
• Congestion
• Street light requests
• Unsafe or impaired driving

Report your concern

For other issues, proceed to step two.

Step 2.Submit your request

Let the city know what you’re experiencing—such as speeding or difficulty crossing the street— through our online request form.

Submit your request

Step 3.Traffic engineers assess your street

City traffic engineers will review your request and make sure it qualifies for the neighborhood traffic management program(PDF, 2MB). If your area of concern is not a "neighborhood street" of if it doesn't qualify for another reason, city staff will still follow up to go over options.

If your street does qualify, engineers will assess your street, which could include doing traffic counts, speed surveys or a visual inspection of existing signs and road striping.

Step 4.Start with quickest fixes

Traffic engineers recommend potential changes to neighbors, starting with the easiest and fastest solutions:

• Education or driver awareness
• Enforcement
• High-visibility crosswalks
• Updated striping or signs

Step 5.Monitor results and add more changes if needed

City engineers monitor the effectiveness of the first set of changes. If needed, they will recommend more significant changes, like physical changes to the streets, sidewalks or bike lanes. 

The city will notify residents within 300 feet of the potential changes to give them a chance to weigh in through a workshop and a survey. If more than two-thirds of the neighbors support the changes, the city will proceed to the next step.

Step 6.Present to Traffic Commission

Proposed projects will be presented to the city's Traffic Commission, which will consider the changes and make a recommendation to the City Council.  At this stage, city still will also determine how the changes could be funded.

Step 7.City Council approval

Once funding options are identified, city staff will present the proposed project to the City Council for consideration.

Step 8.Ongoing monitoring

Once changes are made, the city will monitor the effectiveness through speed surveys, accident reports ad other data. Based on the results, the project may be closed out or additional changes could be recommended.