The Alternative Speed Abatement Program (ASAP) gives residents the opportunity to directly participate in addressing traffic speed concerns within their neighborhoods. Participation in this City cost-sharing program is entirely voluntary and subject to eligibility requirements including neighborhood involvement. As the name implies, the program was created to give residents a local alternative to adding stop signs or requesting speed enforcement.

Program participation has six (6) essential mandatory steps from start to finish: 

1. Determine whether your street qualifies for the program
2. Decide upon the type of speed abatement feature(s)
3. Discuss it with your neighbors
4. Deliver program participation application
5. Demonstrate local support (ASAP administration staff will determine whether petitions or letters of no objection are needed based on the type of feature(s) selected and their locations)
6. Deposit matching funds with the City based on materials and construction costs

 

Let’s get started. 

Step 1. Determining roadway eligibility is the first step in the process. Answers to all the following questions must be “yes” to move on to the second step in the process. 

1. Is the street where we are considering neighborhood speed abatement public?

   The good news is the majority of roads in Oklahoma City are public streets. Roads within gated neighborhoods are always private streets, however, not all private streets are within gated neighborhoods. Unfortunately, private streets are not eligible for this City cost-sharing program. If you’re not sure whether your street is public or private, click here. The link takes you to the City’s geographic information services (GIS) website where you can find your street and make this determination.

   Mapped private streets are highlighted with yellow dashed lines. An example showing how a private street is identified appears below. As with all resources, there are occasional errors, omissions and sometimes the status of a road changed from public to private or vice versa and the GIS map may not yet reflect the change.

    

2. Is the street classified as a neighborhood, connector or industrial street?

To be program eligible, a street must be classified as a neighborhood street, connector street or industrial street. In the City’s comprehensive plan, planokc, a street’s classification is referred to as its “typology." This link takes you to the planokc interactive map.

Note: When the map opens, it defaults to Land Use Typology. Follow the steps below to turn off the land use map overlay and turn on the street typology overlay:

1. Click on the double arrow to open the map Legend. This is displayed in the upper left corner of the Interactive Map.
2. Uncheck the Land Use Typology box to turn off the land use layer and click on the check box beside Street Typology.
3. Once Street Typologies are displayed, simply click on the street of interest and its typology (classification) will be displayed. Below is a zoomed in view showing N Ellison Avenue between NW 12 Street and NW 13 Street is a neighborhood street. There’s not a map legend so clicking on a street is the only sure way to determine its classification.

 

As a general rule, neighborhood streets appear in light gray lines, connector streets in dark blue lines and industrial streets in purple lines. If your street falls within a planokc design district like the State Capitol and Medical Environs area or the Downtown Development Framework, you will need to follow the embedded link to the design district document and search it to find the street typology map inside it. 

1. Is the posted speed limit 30 miles per hour or less?

All speed abatement features available in ASAP can be used on qualifying roadways where the posted speed limit is 30 miles per hour (mph) or less. In December 2022, about the time the Traffic and Transportation Commission considered amending ASAP, the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) released its latest recommended practice regarding the use of speed humps, A Guide to Vertical Deflection Speed Reduction Techniques. ITE changed its recommended practice regarding speed humps (which continuously span the width a roadway nearly from edge to edge) by only recommending speed cushions (a speed hump with two widely spaced gaps to accommodate wide wheel-base vehicles such as fire apparatus). The change was not known until after the City Council’s adoption of ASAP in January 2023. In ASAP, speed humps were the only feature limited to use on streets with a speed limit less than 30 mph. With this change, all public, neighborhood/connector/industrial classified streets with a speed limit up to 30 mph can qualify for the program.

If you answered yes to the three participation criteria above, you can move on to the remaining steps.

Traffic Services staff can help guide you through the remaining steps of the process if you have questions. The information about the various program features in ASAP in this page is provided to help you get a greater understanding of the level of neighborhood involvement required for each feature and what kinds of results you can realistically expect.

Making an informed decision is critical since the features you and your neighbors will be making a significant investment. Their support and participation through the process from beginning to end is essential and cannot be stressed enough.

 

Steps 2 and 3. Decisions, decisions, decisions and discussions. In ASAP, there are four program features available. Each can be used by themselves or they can be used in any combination. 

Every feature carries a different level of neighborhood agreement which must be demonstrated. For example, a written statement of understanding and no objection from the resident or business adjacent to the location where a driver speed feedback sign is sought is all the neighborhood agreement that’s necessary for one to be installed. The same applies to street alerts. Speed cushions require the greatest demonstrated level of neighborhood agreement.

Read about the program features below to learn more about them and the level of neighborhood agreement required for their installation. Deciding which to use is dependent on its acceptance by your neighbors or association since funding is required.  Building neighborhood consensus before applying for program participation cannot be stressed enough.

Street alerts - white pavement markings permanently affixed to the roadway surface with messages such as “stop ahead,” “yield,” and “slow.”

Driver feedback signs - permanently mounted, interactive signs that displays the speed of a vehicle as it approaches the sign. These signs are available with a variety of display features and come in a variety of sizes. Larger, more full-featured feedback signs are available at higher costs.

Speed humps/Speed cushions - a rounded, raised section of roadway (constructed of either prefabricated panels or asphalt concrete) approximately twelve feet in length (in line with the street) with a maximum height of three inches with wheel paths cut through it to accommodate wide-wheelbase vehicles such as fire apparatus. All references to speed humps are to speed cushions.

Mini-roundabouts - a circular median sized to fit within a neighborhood intersection without requiring any restructuring of the existing roadway curbs.

 

Step 4. Deliver your completed program participation application to Traffic Services. Completed initial program participation applications can be delivered as e-mail attachments,  mailed or dropped off. 

Click on the application to get started.

Submit your completed application via email or mail to:

 email: asap-admin@okc.gov

or

ASAP Administrator
Traffic Services
James D Couch Municipal Building
420 W Main Street, Suite 600
Oklahoma City, OK 73102

 

Step 5. Demonstrate local support. Upon receipt, the ASAP administration staff will review the application for program eligibility and let you know what you need to do to demonstrate support, whether it is obtaining a letter of no objection or circulating petitions. The level of local support required is dependent on what you apply for.

ASAP administration staff will help guide you through this part of the process and answer questions you’re likely to have. ASAP administration staff is a resource for you and you’re encouraged to ask questions. Once it is determined what level of local support you need to demonstrate, ASAP administration staff will provide you with the appropriate forms and help you determining the petition canvass area, if needed, and give you model agreement/no objection letters you can tailor to suit your specific needs.

 

Step 6. Deposit your share. Upon completion of the steps leading to this point and based on the specific feature(s) you select (including custom designs for things like mini-roundabouts), ASAP administration staff will develop a detailed construction cost estimate and determine your share. The City’s funding is limited to covering just the cost of program eligible devices and materials required to build the primary program feature. For example, in the case of a mini-roundabout, the City’s match will not match the cost of landscaping, irrigation systems, custom lighting, etc. These are also not subject to City maintenance.

Upon deposit of your share, the City will match it and commence ordering materials. When all materials are in, the City will oversee construction and assume maintenance as program funding allows.