Homeowners and city officials are clashing over whether Hahnemann Lane has a major problem with north Napa commuters looking for a shortcut.

Hahnemann runs parallel to Solano and Linda Vista avenues and connects to Wine Country and Salvador avenues, offering an attractive route for travelers trying to pick the least crowded path to reach or cross nearby Highway 29. Since residents began complaining of cut-throughs and high-speed traffic in 1999, the city has conducted six traffic counts, three speed surveys, a stop sign study and most recently a video analysis of who’s using the street.

The city concluded every time that Hahnemann Lane was functioning at an acceptable level, with traffic counts altogether normal for a residential street.

Staff offered the same conclusion Thursday when the city’s Traffic Advisory Committee reopened the long-standing issue. “I guess on any residential street you’ll find a pattern very similar,” Public Works Director Mike O’Bryon said.

For residents, the ideal solution would be to close Hahnemann’s connection with Salvador Avenue, turning the street into a cul-de-sac. This would prevent motorists from using Hahnemann as a fast way to get onto and off of Highway 29 when Wine Country Avenue is jammed.

Closing off Hahnemann is opposed by the city police and fire departments, who fear such a long cul-de-sac could delay an emergency response in some situations.

John Draper, a consulting engineer to the city, said a recent traffic survey showed Hahnemann attracting 756 vehicle trips a day. This is well under the city’s max of 2,500 vehicles a day for residential streets, he said.

When the city photographed every license plate using Hahnemann on Oct. 15, it learned that 222 trips were by street residents, 415 by cut-through traffic.

While cut-throughs outnumbered locals two to one, similar patterns could be found on many residential streets, city staff said. It’s not uncommon for a motorist to traverse streets that are not his own before he arrives in his own driveway.

Jeff Tillotson, a Hahnemann resident, lamented that city staff remained unmoved by his neighbors’ complaints. “I throw my hands up to you guys. You say it doesn’t need anything. We do.”

Councilman Peter Mott, who chairs the committee, said he didn’t want to accept the status quo. He asked the Public Works Department to look at the impact on the intersection of Wine Country and Solano avenues if Hahnemann were closed to through traffic at Salvador.

If this closure significantly worsened congestion at Wine Country and Solano, he would not be for it, Mott said.

Residents have occasionally asked for stop signs in the middle of Hahnemann at Emperor Way. This idea resurfaced again Thursday, but O’Bryon shot it down.

When stop signs are put at low-volume intersections where they are not expected, a dangerous number of motorists will run them, O’Bryon said.

Draper recommended additional police enforcement of the speed limit rather than special traffic-calming measures such as speed bumps and narrowing of the pavement at various locations. Traffic speeds are below the city’s threshold for traffic-calming features, he said.

Fire Chief Tim Borman said the city would set a bad precedent if it began closing low-volume residential streets because residents want conditions quieter yet.

“If we responded to everybody who came in here, every street in the city would be a cul-de-sac or gated,” he said.

Hahnemann is set apart from most residential streets because it is exceptionally straight and long, increasing its appeal as a detour for motorists, Mott said.

The City Council promised Hahnemann neighbors last summer that it would take a fresh look at traffic conditions. The promise was made after the council approved a Kimpton Hotel at Wine Country and Solano.

Residents feared that the hotel would further clog Wine Country and Solano, tempting even more motorists to use Hahnemann.

The hotel developer later withdrew the project after a labor union organized an initiative campaign to put the city’s approval of the hotel on the ballot.