Marks: How to Apply for Traffic Calming
Photos
One of the most frequent requests our office receives is for traffic calming. Many residents want bumps or islands to reduce speeding on local roads.
Any resident can request that the Department of Public Works evaluate the feasibility of a road for traffic calming. The application is found here. Once the application is submitted, engineers will determine if the route is suitable for traffic calming (speed bumps, for example, won't be erected on Belair Road). They will then conduct a test to see if the traffic meets a speed and volume threshold. If the road qualifies, 75 percent of nearby residents must support the improvements.
Over the past two years, several routes in the Fifth District have qualified for traffic calming, including Baker Lane, eastern Silver Spring Road, Forge Haven Drive and Glen Summit Drive.
The county can't honor every request for traffic calming. It can cost $30,000 or more to implement some forms of traffic calming, and there is limited money. If speed bumps were put at every location where residents want them, we would have gridlock. I have actually had a request for speed bumps and a 30 mile-per-hour speed limit on Belair Road. Motorists need to be able to get to their destination, but in a safe and responsible manner.
If you feel your neighborhood needs traffic calming, please go to the link above and complete the application.
Evets
1:37 pm on Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Of course, thanks to Mike Fisher, we are all well aware that speeding does not cause accidents and that people only speed because speed limits are too low for our modern high tech automobiles and their drivers (many of whom are on cell phones).
Spring Heeled Jack
2:15 pm on Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Speed humps are a nice concept, but more studies should be done to see how affective they really are. Things I see ALL the time in Perry Hall:
1. On Cottington Rd. and on the Silver Spring 1 mile stretch that dead ends at 95... I constantly see people racing way over the speed limit then jamming their brakes on feet before a speed hump then gunning it and repeating the pattern. It only slows speeders down at the very spot of the speed hump, not in the gaps.
2. On Cottington it has become very common for people to stay at full speed and drive way over by the curb to avoid the full speed hump. Many kids, dog owners, and older people walk just feet from that curb all day.
3. People with large trucks or fixed up smaller trucks just roll over the speed humps at full speed.
4. Snow plows repeatedly nail the humps in the winter with the plows. That has got to cause damage to the plows costing us tax payers to repair.
5. Lower sitting vehicles (which have become common right off the show room floor by design) bottom out sometimes on these bumps. Costing the owner eventual repair costs.
I am ALL for safer roads and for people to SLOW down, but speed humps seem to be a 50/50 investment, not a full cure. Who knows what the real answer is to slow people down.
Vicki Rummel
4:34 pm on Tuesday, October 9, 2012
On the 2nd item you mention, that's in front of my house. I can't tell you how many times our cars have been hit and we can't even park in front of our house. Stepping off the curb to get the mail is dangerous. I have a petition in the works to get it removed. If anyone on Cottington or surrounding streets didn't sign yet, but would like to, please contact me.
Spring Heeled Jack
9:43 am on Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Vicki, I live off Cottington and walk my dog along Cottington everyday. I agree with you its become ridiculous. During rush hours (morn and evening) people race up the street non-stop. Also the stop sign at Yvonne and Cottington is mostly ignored by drivers driving right through it.
Spring Heeled Jack
9:45 am on Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Speed humps do not work on Cottington. I often think how bad it has got to be for people whom live on that street.
Homer
2:35 pm on Tuesday, October 9, 2012
how about the new forge super hwy