Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program

Two men installing an in-road pedestrian sign.

Overview

As part of Safer Streets Littleton efforts, the city’s Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program aims to reduce vehicle speeds and improve neighborhood safety and livability on Local Streets and Neighborhood Connectors. Community members are encouraged to submit transportation safety concerns and ideas for improvement through the online request form. Through a data-driven process, request locations are scored, prioritized, and selected for implementation of pilot projects to effectively slow speeds and address safety concerns.

Program Updates

Over the course of 2025, staff reviewed and revised the City of Littleton's Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program (NTCP) to improve efficiency and ensure concerns are addressed based on safety data to prioritize the highest risks to the community.

Key updates to the program include the following:

Published a public map displaying all requests, their status, and related traffic data.
Developed a scoring process to help staff prioritize request locations based on a standard set of safety data.
Restructured the steps in the program to clarify how a request is addressed.

What Traffic Calming IS and IS NOT

What Traffic Calming IS

What Traffic Calming IS NOT

The primary purpose of traffic calming is to improve the quality of life in communities by reducing motorist speeds and traffic volumes on Local Streets and Neighborhood Connectors. Example treatments that are recommended for use by the City of Littleton:

Speed cushions
Pedestrian median islands
Curb extensions
Traffic circles

*Not all treatments considered for traffic calming are listed here. To see a full list, please view the Traffic Calming Toolbox.

Not all traffic issues or neighborhood concerns can be addressed through traffic calming. This program does not apply to the following issues:

Maintenance issue
Code Enforcement issue
Issues NOT on a major roadway (Suburban Connector and Commercial Corridor)
Issues NOT on a roadway owned by City of Littleton

If a request is a maintenance or code enforcement issue, please report it to SeeClickFix! and it will be referred to the appropriate department.

Submit a concern

Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program Map

Use the Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program Map to explore the status of all requests throughout the city, along with the existing pilot projects, street types, and vehicle speed and volume data.

View the map in a new window

A Guide to the Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program

If you have a neighborhood transportation safety concern or an idea that the city should know about, please read the guide below and submit a request using the online form.

Program Timeline:

The NTCP operates on 12-month cycle. While requests may be submitted year-round, requests that are submitted before August 1 of each year will be considered for that year's package of pilot projects. Requests submitted after August 1 will be considered in the next year's round of review. Pilot projects that have been installed for longer than 12 months are eligible to be evaluated for permanent construction, which occurs during December and January.

Step 1: Submit a Concern

Residents may submit request year-round, and staff will review new requests at the end of each month to determine the appropriate way to address each concern. Requests that are submitted before August 1 of each year will be considered for that year's package of pilot projects. Requests submitted after August 1 will be considered in the next year's round of review.

To ensure a request is best suited for the Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program, staff verify it meets the following eligibility criteria:

The request is located on a roadway that is owned and operated by the City of Littleton.
The request is on a Local Street or Neighborhood Connector (see Transportation Master Plan, page 124).
The request is NOT a maintenance or code enforcement issue.

If a request meets these eligibility criteria, staff will move the request to Step 2: Data Collection.

If a request is a maintenance or code enforcement issue, please report it to SeeClickFix! and it will be referred to the appropriate department.

“Slow Down” Yard Signs

Some traffic concerns will not warrant a physical change to the roadway at this time, but there are helpful communication tools to encourage safe behaviors on the roadway. Yard signs that remind drivers to slow down are available at no cost to Littleton residents. To request a yard sign, please email traffic@littletonco.gov.

Step 2: Data Collection

In Step 2 of the process, requests that have met the initial eligibility criteria in Step 1 will be evaluated to determine if the location meets the minimum traffic volume and speeds to move forward in the program.

To be eligible for the Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program, requests must meet the following minimum thresholds:

Street Type	85th Percentile Speed	Volume (Average Daily Traffic)
Local Street	> 25 MPH	> 500 vehicles per day
Neighborhood Connector	> 30 MPH	> 1,500 vehicles per day

*Exceptions to these required thresholds could be made for areas near sensitive land uses including schools, transit stations, and living facilities with limited-mobility residents or sensory-limited residents at the discretion of city staff.

Request Status

Residents are notified by email when their request status is updated from New Request to the appropriate category. Each request is assigned one of the following statuses:

Does Not Qualify: The request did not meet program thresholds (street type, speed/volume, etc.).
Referred to Other Agency: The location is managed by another jurisdiction (e.g., CDOT, South Suburban).
Referred to Operations Team: Forwarded to the City’s Traffic Operations team for review (e.g., signage, signal timing, striping).
Referred for Yard Sign: Forwarded to Littleton Communications to pick up a Slow Down yard sign.
Addressed by Other Project: The location will be improved through another planned or current project.
Active Pilot: The location is currently being addressed with a traffic calming pilot project.
Under Evaluation: The request is eligible for the program; more data or analysis may be needed.
Future Pilot: Additional data was collected and scored, and the request is scored as Immediate Priority for a future pilot project.

Data Definitions

85th Percentile Speed: The 85th percentile speed is a traffic measure that shows the speed most people naturally drive, with only the fastest 15% of drivers going above this speed.

Average Daily Traffic (ADT): ADT is the average number of vehicles traveling through a location during a period shorter than a year. For example, it may be applied to a season, or a selected month or week, a short span of days, or a specific day in the year.

Step 3: Project Prioritization

If a request meets the required speed and volume thresholds in Step 2, it is categorized as Under Evaluation and moves forward to Step 3 for additional data collection and scoring. The scoring method utilizes a data-driven process to prioritize locations that have the highest safety risk and greatest opportunity for improvement. This process ensures staff focus resources where they are most needed based on safety, accessibility, and connectivity. Locations may move up in priority as roadway conditions, funding, or capacity change.

Scoring Method

Requests that meet all eligibility requirements and data thresholds in Step 1 and 2, are categorized as Under Evaluation. Staff will collect and assign a score to the following types of data to calculate a total prioritization score:

Data Type	Data Collected	% Weight of Total Score
Speed	85th percentile vehicle speeds	20%
Volume	Average daily traffic count	20%
Crash History	Reported crash data from the past 3 years, including crash type and severity.	15%
Activity Generators	Count of schools, parks, libraries, and other walking- and biking-oriented destinations within ¼ mile.	15%
Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program Requests	The number of NTCP requests submitted for the same location or corridor.	5%
Street Type	Neighborhood Connector streets, which carry traffic between local streets and major roads, are prioritized.	5%

Priority Levels
Because the City receives more requests than can be addressed in a single year, requests are assigned a priority level based on its total score. This allows staff to focus resources on locations with the greatest safety need.

Priority Level	Definition	What This Means
Immediate Priority	Highest safety concerns, ready for near-term action	Staff will begin identifying and designing potential countermeasures for pilot projects.
High Priority	Notable safety concerns, strong candidate for future projects	These locations are strong candidates for pilot projects as funding, staffing, and scheduling allow.
Medium Priority	Safety concerns exist but less urgent than higher-priority locations	Staff will continue to monitor conditions and reevaluate over time.
Lower Priority	Fewer safety risk factors currently identified	No immediate project is planned, but the location may be reconsidered if conditions change or additional requests are received.

Requests identified as Immediate Priority in this step move forward to the design phase, where staff begin developing a package of traffic calming solutions tailored to the locations. Multiple requests along a high-risk corridor will be combined into a corridor-wide project as funding allows. Requests in other priority categories remain on file and are reevaluated over time as conditions, data, and available resources change.

Step 4: Design Phase

In Step 4, request locations identified as Immediate Priority forward with staff developing a package of traffic calming projects to be installed annually in the springtime, as funding and capacity allows. Pilot projects are designed with the intent to become permanent traffic calming but are first installed using materials that are quick to install, and lower cost so that designs can be tested, refined, and adjusted as needed. During this phase, staff collect pre-installation vehicle speed and volume data at project locations to establish baseline conditions and support design decisions.

Using the Traffic Calming Toolbox developed from the city-wide Traffic Calming Evaluation Report, staff identify appropriate countermeasures based on the specific safety concerns, street type, surrounding land uses, and how people walk, bike, drive, and access nearby properties. Select the links below to view the assessment of existing infrastructure and traffic calming toolbox which summarizes the treatments that are deemed appropriate by the city along Local Streets and Neighborhood Connectors.

Step 5: Pilot Project Installation

In Step 5 of the program, staff will finalize the designs for the annual package of traffic calming pilot projects by the end of December. City crews will install pilot projects in early Spring each year as funding and capacity allow, using temporary materials that allow staff to evaluate and refine the design before investing in permanent construction. Projects remain in place for at least 12 months to allow travel behavior to stabilize and for staff to collect meaningful community feedback and traffic data. If a project is shown to improve safety and meet program goals, it can move forward for installation with permanent, concrete materials in the future as funding and scheduling allows. Projects that do not meet safety goals will be further evaluated to determine the necessary revisions needed to achieve the desired goals. To learn more about this process, go to Step 6: Evaluation & Revisions.

A Note on Communications

Residents and property owners near a pilot project will receive advance notification, including a mailer and a construction notice before installation begins. Staff will regularly update the construction timelines on the quick-build and pilot projects webpage. To view more information about future, existing, and past pilot projects, please visit the link below.

View the Safer Streets Littleton Traffic Calming Pilot Projects

Step 6: Evaluation & Revisions

After pilot projects are installed, staff evaluate their performance to understand whether the countermeasures are improving safety and meeting project goals. Staff use this information to make design adjustments to improve performance if needed and determine whether a pilot project is meeting the criteria to move forward toward a future permanent installation. A summary of evaluation results and decisions will be published on the Pilot Projects webpage to maintain transparency and accountability.

Evaluation of the projects is done in multiple ways, including:

Post-installation vehicle speeds and volume data (typically at least 3 months post-installation).
Reviews of operational considerations, such as access, visibility, emergency response, and snow plowing.
Community feedback from a public survey.

Pilot to Permanent

A pilot project may be considered for permanent, concrete installation when the following criteria are met:

Speed and/or volume data show significant and consistent safety improvements.
The design functions well operationally and does not create new safety concerns.
The design aligns with long-term corridor plans and available funding.

Resources

To learn more about Safer Streets Littleton and the work the city is doing to improve safety and accessibility for all roadways users, please visit Safer Streets Littleton.

For more information on the status of a request or questions about the Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program, please contact the Transportation Team at traffic@littletonco.gov.