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It is important that traffic volume data be collected in the 'before' condition on any adjacent residential streets that may experience redirected traffic due to calming measures in the area. Staff Traffic Committee An important step in ensuring that neighborhood plans will be effective and implementable is acceptance by the various interests within the City. Each neighborhood has unique aspects with respect to topography, drainage, maintenance, emergency access and response, and how the streets function as part ora larger system. The StaffTraffic Committee will meet to discuss, with interested residents, specific concerns and interests within the neighborhood. This meeting ,vill identify any traffic calming devices that are particularly well suited to the neighborhood and those that would not be acceptable to the City due to implementation and impact concerns. It is vital to the success of a neighborhood process that the Staff Traffic Committee and any other potentially affected agencies within the City be in agreement about what are viable alternatives for the neighborhood. This provides clear parameters and realistic expectations for the neighborhood fi-om the beginning and reduces the potential for plans to be advanced that are not feasible or the implementation of devices that need to be removed at some future time. The Staff Traffic Committee and other potentially affected agencies will participate in all aspects of the planning process to understand the concerns of the residents and share their interests with the neighborhood. Initial Neighborhood Meeting Once the neighborhood petition process is completed and the neighborhood is funded for study; the City staff will schedule a general neighborhood meeting to meet with residents to share available traffic data and discuss the neighborhood's desired outcomes for traffic calming. It is important that the residents and staff have an opportunity to express their different perspectives of the traffic problems in the neighborhood and to hear the different views and experiences of their neighbors. Through this process, a shared definition of the problem can be developed. Through an understanding of the problem(s) to be addressed, the residents and staff can work together to define the desired outcomes and measures of success. If additional data are needed to define the problem or measure the effectiveness of the traffic calming effort, it should be identified at this time. Although the focus of the neighborhood meetings is on the neighborhood and the experiences of the residents, it is critical to involve other stakeholders in this process from the very beginning. These stakeholders include emergency service providers and other individuals or organizations who may be directly impacted by any changes to the neighborhood streets. Their perspective is essential for developing a plan that effectively addresses existing concerns without creating new problems that cannot be overcome or that keep the plan from being implemented.