Signs and road markings are essential tools for traffic flow control and public safety. However, the City recognizes that improper or overuse of these tools could have the converse effect.  The City of Redmond follows national traffic engineering guidelines outlined in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD).

Examples of requested signs

Stop signs

The City of Redmond does not install STOP signs for the purpose of controlling traffic speed. STOP signs are used at locations where a failure to assign right-of-way could result in an accident, for example at an intersection where sight distance and accident history is a problem.

The consequences of placing a STOP sign in an unwarranted location may exceed the benefit. When placed in an inappropriate location they can:

• breed disrespect for STOP signs in general
• cause fast stops and accelerations
• give pedestrians and cross-street drivers a false sense of security 
• antagonize otherwise reasonable drivers

Children At Play signs

A "Children at Play" sign is usually requested in the hope that it will reduce vehicular speeds and raise awareness for drivers that there are children in the neighborhood. Traffic studies have shown that "Children at Play" signs do not increase driver awareness to the point of reducing pedestrian collisions.

Please note that "Children at Play"  signs installed by residents on public streets will be removed by the City of Redmond.

Nearly 4,000 streetlights illuminate highways and city streets in Redmond. Some streetlights in Redmond are owned and maintained by the City, while others are owned and maintained by Puget Sound Energy.

All City and PSE owned lights on arterials and major residential streets are surveyed by Traffic Operations Safety and Engineering Division (TOSE) staff annually during nighttime surveys to identify and repair streetlight outages.  

PSE-owned light poles have a white tag with 4 letters followed by 4 numbers.	City-owned light poles have a yellow-green tag with 4 numbers.

LED Streetlight Conversion

In January 2018 City crews with the help of McKinstry and Northwest Edison began converting City owned streetlights from High Pressure Sodium (HPS) to Light Emitting Diode (LED).

The conversion to LED resulted in 50 percent lower energy consumption, four times the bulb life vs. high pressure sodium lights, and a much more uniform light distribution pattern. Typically, an HPS system is over-designed to compensate for light level reduction to 70% of its original brightness over 4 years. An LED fixture will reduce to a light level of 95% in about 10 years. Longer bulb life also translates to extended maintenance intervals.

Staff also use a control system that will dim the lights to target light levels. The control system can also provide reports of light failures to alert crews for response.

LED Streetlight Retrofit Info

• Council staff report and approval December 2016/January 2017
• Applied for DOC Energy Efficiency Grant in March 2017
• Project Statistics: Retrofitted over 1,750 city owned street lights with LEDs. Includes system controls
• Annual outcome benefits: $139,985 utility savings; $19,287 material savings; 1,505,212 annual kWh savings; 2,376,835 lbs. CO2 emissions reduction
• Estimated project cost: $2,076,400. Potential DOC grant of $350,000; PSE rebate of $251,025; $400,000 15/16 energy efficiency program budget; finance the balance
• Project completed February 2020 with Warranty Period projected to end February 2021

Street sweeping is an effective method of removing both the large and microscopic pollutants that collect on city streets and serves as one of our Best Management Practices (BMP) to control and improve water quality.

The City of Redmond conducts regular street sweeping to provide two main benefits:

1. The removal of paper, leaves and other visible debris that collects in gutters can prevent localized flooding during heavy rains
2. Removes metal particles and other hazardous waste products left by passing vehicles

Residential sweeping is performed on a quarterly basis, and arterial and bike lane sweeping occurs every two weeks throughout the city. It is also provided after heavy wind events, and extra sweeping is performed during fall leaf season. 

Reasons street sweeping was not completed:

• Obstructions on street such as cars, bicycles, toys and refuse containers
• Low-hanging trees and shrubs - homeowners trim/prune vegetation to no less than 10' above the street level

The City currently does not have the tools to set a consist street sweeping schedule, because there are too many factors that can cause delays to a schedule such as:

1. Weather - heavy rainfall, wind storm, snow and ice
2. Parked cars on both sides of the street
3. Garbage collection schedules and garbage cans placed in the street throughout neighborhoods
4. Overhanging tree limbs that prohibit our crews from getting to the curb to clean a street - sometimes overhanging tree limbs prohibit our equipment from accessing a street

The City of Redmond Public Works Department, Streets Division, maintains streets within the City. As part of that program, the division conducts snow and ice response to mitigate the conditions during a snow and ice event.

While the program is designed to provide a safe roadway system, it will not eliminate the impacts or effects of a snow and ice event. If at all possible, stay at home during a major snow event.  

The City of Redmond utilizes:

• Three 5-yard truck with Plow/Material Spreader
• One 5-yard truck Plow/900 Gallon Liquid Anti-icing Applicator Trucks
• One 5-yard truck 900 Gallon Liquid Anti-icing Applicator Trucks
• One 1-Ton 400 Gallon Liquid Anti-icing Applicator Truck/Material Spreader Truck/Plow
• Two 9000 Gallon CCB Tanks
• One 140-Ton Salt Shed

For more information, visit our Snow & Ice Response page.