Please contact QCPD on the Non-Emergency Phoneline (480-358-3500) to report speeding complaints.

Reports of excessive speeding are handled through the Town's Neighborhood Traffic Management Program (revised January, 2023). The Traffic Division, in conjunction with QCPD and the neighborhood  coordinator, will try to educate residents about traffic laws in the area before moving to the next steps of higher degrees of traffic enforcement and traffic engineering studies.

Town staff conduct monthly inspections of all residential roadway lighting and bi-monthly inspections of all arterial roadway lighting. Staff notate when an issue is found during inspection and add it to their workflow list. Once found, most roadway lighting issues can be resolved and fixed within 10 business days. 

Residents can proactively report roadway lighting issues by visiting SeeClickFix

Click the image below to view the Roadway Lighting Inspection Schedule and find our when your neighborhood's roadway lighting is inspected

Only local streets are eligible to have speed humps installed and uses a process described in the Town of Queen Creek Neighborhood Traffic Management Program (revised January, 2023). This document describes the policy and procedure for anyone requesting traffic calming devices in their neighborhood. The goals and objectives of the Town of Queen Creeks Neighborhood Traffic Management Program (NTMP) are achieved by meeting minimum criteria. The Neighborhood Traffic Management Program consists of a process that utilizes the “3 E’s” of Education, Enforcement and Engineering to provide a user friendly and streamlined program based on community involvement,:

NTMP Process:

1. Initial contact (HOA if one exists or resident – completed application form)

2. Education

3. Enforcement

4. Engineering • Traffic Studies • Petitions/Obtain Consensus (neighborhood meeting, etc) • Implementation

5. Evaluation

The Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) defines traffic calming as the combination of mainly physical measures that reduce the negative effects of motor vehicle use, alter driver behavior and improve conditions for non-motorized street users.¹

Traffic calming goals include:

• increasing the quality of life;
• incorporating the preferences and requirements of the people using the area (e.g., working, playing, residing) along the street(s), or at intersection(s);
• creating safe and attractive streets;
• helping to reduce the negative effects of motor vehicles on the environment (e.g., pollution, sprawl); and
• promoting pedestrian, cycle and transit use.¹

Traffic calming objectives include:

• achieving slow speeds for motor vehicles,
• reducing collision frequency and severity,
• increasing the safety and the perception of safety for non-motorized users of the street(s),
• reducing the need for police enforcement,
• enhancing the street environment (e.g., streetscaping),
• encouraging water infiltration into the ground,
• increasing access for all modes of transportation, and
• reducing cut-through motor vehicle traffic.¹

Examples of traffic calming features include: speed humps, speed bumps, speed tables, raised intersections, traffic circles, chicanes, chokers, center island narrowing, raised medians, and permanent closures.

¹Lockwood, Ian. ITE Traffic Calming Definition. ITE Journal, July 1997, pg. 22.

National standards, Arizona law and the Town of Queen Creek do not recognize the "Children at play" signs for these reasons: warning signs are designed and intended to advise motorists of an unusual or unexpected physical roadway condition ahead. Signs such as this give the wrong message to both children and parents, fostering a false sense of security.  There is no evidence to show that these signs help reduce the number of pedestrian accidents or lower travel speeds.

Federal standards do not support these signs because the signs are suggesting that it is acceptable behavior for children to play in the streets.

Arizona State Law and the driver's license manual limit the motorists' speed to 25 M.P.H. (miles per hour) in business and residential areas.  It is the driver's responsibility to adjust speed for conditions, and to act reasonable and prudent when encountering conditions that occur in all residential areas.

In accordance with Arizona State Law, the speed limit in a residential or business district is 25 miles per hour (MPH) with or without the presence of a speed limit sign. Although not required, 25 MPH speed limit signs may be posted at entrances to residential or business areas. Multiple postings of 25 MPH speed limit signs on residential streets not only detracts from a neighborhood's curb appeal, but it often fails to achieve the desired result of reducing the speed of motorists.

Many believe that forcing motorists to stop at each intersection will decrease overall speed on the road. However, studies show that stop signs only reduce speed immediately adjacent to the sign. Most drivers accelerate between signs to make up for apparent time lost. Engineering studies indicate that the inappropriate installation of extra stop signs may cause additional problems such as rear-end collisions, a redistribution of traffic onto side streets, and drivers ignoring the inappropriate stop signs. Stop signs are used to assign right-of-way at an intersection, not to control speed.

Please contact QCPD on the Non-Emergency Phoneline (480-358-3500) to report speeding complaints.

Currently, eight trains per day travel on the Union Pacific Railroad track that runs through Queen Creek. Six of them are coming from various parts of the country, so there is no way of knowing when they will pass through Queen Creek. Of the two regularly scheduled trains, two of them come from Phoenix. Their approximate arrival times in Queen Creek are listed below:

• 3 p.m. from Phoenix arrives in Queen Creek at approximately 6 p.m.
• 7:30 p.m. from Phoenix arrives in Queen Creek at approximately 10:30 p.m.

Because freight trains fluctuate based on the economy, get the most up to date information through the Federal Railroad Administration site.

The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), published by the Federal Highway Administration is the nationally recognized standard for traffic control adopted by the Town of Queen Creek. When considering a School Speed Zone, the MUTCD requires that an engineering study define appropriate locations (Section 7B.11) and further recommends uniform application by way of policy to achieve reasonably safe and effective traffic control (Section 7A.01). Traffic Engineering has adopted policies consistent with the requirements and guidance of the MUTCD for evaluating School Speed Zones.²

School Speed Zones are only to be installed after a careful traffic engineering study of pedestrian routes, crossing activity, traffic volumes, vehicle speeds, and crash history indicates that the installation is appropriate. School walking routes and crosswalk locations are developed in the traffic study. School Speed Zones are encouraged where all of the following conditions exist:

• There is a school crosswalk with probable schoolchild pedestrian crossing activity that is not protected by a traffic signal or stop sign,
• The adjacent school is elementary level instruction, and
• The posted speed limit is less than 40 mph.²

School areas that do not meet these conditions should not have a school speed zone. For instance, in the following cases a school speed zone is discouraged:

• Street with slow travel speeds,
• Where crosswalks are controlled by a stop sign or traffic signal,
• When the school has no students who walk or ride bicycles to school (lack of pedestrian/bicycle accommodations or school policy prohibits students from walking or biking to school),
• If no children cross the roadway, or
• The posted speed limit is 40 mph or greater.²

Unnecessary school speed zones are often disrespected by drivers, thereby increasing crash frequency from greater speed differentials and creating a false sense of security for pedestrians. Furthermore, unnecessary school speed zones compromise the effectiveness and safety of appropriate school speed zones.²

²City of Lee’s Summit, Public Works Department, Engineering Division. Facts about School Speed Zones. Retrieved from http://cityofls.net/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=%2FZJXN%2BIGwcs%3D&tabid=465