SB 2954: DOT; Mandatory Traffic Studies; Traffic Safety Devices; Speed Humps; Speed Limit Changes; Public Dashboard; Reports

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	2954
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

relating to traffic safety.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 

     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that public-facing request mechanisms, including web-based forms that invite requests for speed humps or similar devices, should not operate as a substitute for traffic engineering study and documented criteria, and should not result in installations or speed limit changes that bypass the engineering basis required for prudent expenditure of scarce public funds.

     The legislature further finds that traffic control devices installed on streets and highways open to public travel are governed by nationally recognized standards, including the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, and that the State's public resources for transportation are increasingly constrained, making it imperative that safety expenditures be guided by objective, documented engineering analysis and made transparent through public access to the underlying studies and public input.

     The purpose of this Act is to:

     (1)  Require traffic engineering studies prior to specified traffic safety device installations and speed limit changes;

     (2)  Provide a statewide dashboard for public transparency; and

     (3)  Require advance annual reporting to the legislature.

     SECTION 2.  Chapter 291C, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to part IV to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

     "§291C-    Mandatory traffic engineering studies; covered traffic safety actions.  (a) The department of transportation shall:

     (1)  Complete a traffic engineering study before implementing any covered traffic safety action;

     (2)  Only implement a covered traffic safety action when:

          (A)  The traffic engineering study is completed;

          (B)  The traffic engineering study is posted to the dashboard in accordance with subsection (e);

          (C)  The department of transportation has provided notice and an opportunity for public comment under subsection (c), unless subsection (b)(4) applies; and

          (D)  The department of transportation has issued and posted a written determination under subsection (d); and

     (3)  As soon as practicable, remove or reverse the covered traffic safety action and restore the site to a safe condition consistent with applicable standards for any covered traffic safety action first implemented on or after July 1, 2026, if the department of transportation implements the action in violation of paragraph (2); provided that nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to require removal of a covered traffic safety action first implemented before July 1, 2026, which shall be governed by subsection (g).

     (b)  A traffic engineering study under this section shall:

     (1)  At a minimum, document:

          (A)  The location, route, roadway classification, and purpose of the request or proposed action;

          (B)  Speed data, traffic volumes, and collision history for an appropriate study period, to the extent available;

          (C)  Pedestrian, bicyclist, transit, and school-route context as applicable;

          (D)  Sight distance, grades, drainage, pavement condition, and geometric constraints relevant to safety;

          (E)  Emergency response and service impacts, including consultation with appropriate emergency response agencies when the action includes vertical deflection devices;

          (F)  Reasonable alternatives considered and the basis for selection or rejection;

          (G)  Estimated installation, operation, and maintenance costs and the intended funding source; and

          (H)  The final recommendation and engineering basis for the final written determination;

     (2)  Be posted to the dashboard no later than ten business days after completion; and

     (3)  Include underlying datasets or a summary of datasets sufficient for public understanding, subject to privacy, security, and critical infrastructure considerations as determined by the director of transportation by rule.

     (c)  Except as provided in subsection (b), the department of transportation shall provide at least thirty days public notice and an opportunity for written public comment before issuing a written determination under subsection (d).  The public notice shall include, at minimum, the location, the requested or proposed covered traffic safety action, and a link to the dashboard entry for the request or proposal and supporting study materials.

     (d)  Following completion of the traffic engineering study and consideration of public comments, the department of transportation shall issue a written determination approving, denying, or deferring the covered traffic safety action.  The determination shall briefly state the reasons for the decision, including a summary response to material public comments, and shall be posted to the dashboard no later than three business days after issuance.

     (e)  The department of transportation shall:

     (1)  Establish, host, and maintain a publicly accessible dashboard that provides, for each request for a covered traffic safety action received by the department and for each covered traffic safety action proposed by the department:

          (A)  The request or proposal date and source type without posting personal identifying information;

          (B)  The location sufficient for public understanding, including route and cross-streets or segment limits;

          (C)  The status of the request or proposal;

          (D)  The traffic engineering study and supporting datasets or summaries, as appropriate;

          (E)  Public notice materials and a summary of public comments received;

          (F)  The final written determination and implementation date, if approved; and

          (G)  If denied or deferred, the basis for denial or deferral and any conditions for future reconsideration;

     (2)  Post a new request or proposal entry to the dashboard no later than five business days after receipt or initiation; and

     (3)  Maintain historical entries for not less than five years after final determination or implementation.

     The director of transportation may adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 to standardize submissions, protect privacy, and ensure timely posting while maximizing public transparency.

     (f)  The department of transportation shall not establish, maintain, or use any public-facing web form or other request mechanism that states or implies that submission will result in installation of a speed hump or other covered traffic safety action.

     Any public-facing web form or other request mechanism maintained by the department shall:

     (1)  Be limited to requesting that the department of transportation evaluate a location through the traffic engineering study process required by this section;

     (2)  Prominently state that a submission is a request for study only and does not guarantee approval, installation, or a speed limit change; and

     (3)  Provide a direct link to the dashboard entry for the request after posting pursuant to subsection (e).

     A covered traffic safety action shall not be deemed authorized, expedited, or prioritized solely because it is associated with a web form submission, petition, or constituent request.

     (g)  The department of transportation shall:

     (1)  Create and post on the dashboard an inventory of covered traffic safety actions first implemented by the department of transportation on or after January 1, 2019, to the extent records are available, and shall identify whether a traffic engineering study supporting each action exists and is posted;

     (2)  Complete and post a traffic engineering study and issue and post a written determination reaffirming, modifying, or reversing the covered traffic safety action for any covered traffic safety action first implemented before July 1, 2026, for which no traffic engineering study exists or can be produced and posted;

     (3)  Complete the traffic engineering study and issue the written determination required by paragraph (2) no later than July 1, 2031;

     (4)  Post to the dashboard, for each covered traffic safety action, a schedule for study completion and determination, and update that schedule at least annually;

     (5)  Remove or reverse the covered traffic safety action and restore the site to a safe condition consistent with applicable standards as soon as practicable after the deadline if the department fails to complete and post the traffic engineering study and written determination for a covered traffic safety action by the deadline in paragraph (3); provided that the department of transportation may retain the action if, prior to the deadline, the department posts a completed traffic engineering study and a written determination reaffirming or modifying the covered traffic safety action; and

     (6)  Remove or reverse the covered traffic safety action, or modify the covered traffic safety action to a validated alternative, in accordance with the determination and within the timeframe stated in the determination, which shall not exceed one year unless extended for good cause stated on the dashboard if the department of transportation completes a traffic engineering study and issues a written determination that does not validate the continued use, placement, or configuration of a covered traffic safety action at a location.

     (h)  Any person may submit a petition through the dashboard requesting that the department of transportation identify and post the traffic engineering study and written determination for an existing covered traffic safety action.  The department of transportation shall respond on the dashboard no later than thirty days after receipt by either:

     (1)  Linking to the posted study and determination;

     (2)  Posting a schedule for completion and posting of the study and determination consistent with subsection (g); or

     (3)  Posting a schedule for removal, reversal, or modification consistent with subsection (g).

     (i)  The department of transportation shall not expend state funds for the installation or implementation of a covered traffic safety action unless the requirements of subsection (a)(2) have been satisfied, except for emergency actions under subsection (k); provided that any emergency action expenditures shall be posted to the dashboard with the emergency basis and the timeline for compliance required by subsection (k).

     (j)  No later than twenty days prior to the convening of each regular session, the director of transportation shall submit a report to the legislature identifying, for the prior calendar year and year-to-date period specified by the director:

     (1)  All covered traffic safety actions implemented by the department;

     (2)  A link to the dashboard entry, the traffic engineering study, and the written determination for each covered traffic safety action;

     (3)  A summary of public comments received and how they were addressed;

     (4)  Actions subject to subsection (g), including the number of covered traffic safety actions lacking posted studies, the department of transportation's progress toward the five-year deadline, and any removals or modifications made due to failure to validate; and

     (5)  Any recommended statutory changes to improve traffic safety governance, transparency, and cost effectiveness.

     (k)  This section shall not prohibit temporary traffic control for construction or maintenance work zones, immediate post-crash hazard response, or time-limited emergency actions necessary to address an imminent threat to life or property; provided that any emergency covered traffic safety action:

     (1)  Lasting more than thirty days shall be supported by a traffic engineering study completed and posted within that thirty-day period; and

     (2)  Involving vertical deflection shall include consultation with appropriate emergency response agencies within seven days after installation and shall be removed or modified promptly if emergency response impacts cannot be acceptably mitigated.

     (l)  For the purposes of this section:

     "Covered traffic safety action" means, on any state highway or other public roadway under the jurisdiction, control, or authority of the department of transportation:

     (1)  The installation, placement, removal, relocation, or material modification of a traffic calming device or speed management device, including speed humps, speed tables, speed cushions, raised crosswalks, chicanes, curb extensions, lane narrowing, pedestrian refuge islands, channelizing devices, or other physical measures intended to reduce operating speeds or alter driver behavior;

     (2)  The establishment, reduction, increase, or other change to a posted regulatory speed limit by official signage; and

     (3)  Any other traffic control measure designated by the director of transportation by rule that has a substantial effect on operating speeds, vehicle stopping patterns, emergency response routing, or roadway capacity.

     "Dashboard" means the publicly accessible traffic safety dashboard required under subsection (e).

     "Traffic engineering study" means a documented engineering study or engineering and traffic investigation consistent with nationally recognized traffic engineering practice and applicable federal requirements and standards for traffic control devices, including the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, that evaluates site conditions and data and supports a final written determination for or against a covered traffic safety action.

     "Validate" means supported by the traffic engineering study and consistent with applicable standards."

     SECTION 3.  If any provision of this Act, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the Act that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this Act are severable.

     SECTION 4.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 5.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2026.

 

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

 

 

 

Report Title:

DOT; Mandatory Traffic Studies; Traffic Safety Devices; Speed Humps; Speed Limit Changes; Public Dashboard; Reports

 

Description:

Requires the Department of Transportation to complete and publish a traffic engineering study before installing specified traffic safety devices or changing posted speed limits on state highways.  Establishes a publicly accessible dashboard for requests, studies, decisions, and public comments.  Requires annual reporting to the Legislature.

 

 

 

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.