Jun 4, 2008

Solution for Speeding Cars

When speeding cars were interrupting the calm of their roads, residents of Fountain Hills, Ariz., submitted a request for traffic management. The residents’ idea for preserving the overall quietude of their residential streets was to make them into cul-de-sacs to limit thru traffic. The town, however, chose another alternative to make motorists more aware of the posted speed limit. Instead of reconfiguring the roads, several speed humps were installed to achieve the same results of getting drivers' attention and slowing them down.

One example is the 1.8-mile stretch of road on Trevino Drive. There are no sidewalks on the road, and so pedestrians must walk on the sides of the street. Despite the road being a residential 25-mph zone, motorists were driving at much higher speeds as they passed through. As a test, Fountain Hills decided to install rubber speed humps from Traffic Logic temporarily to gauge neighborhood reaction.
 
Although the neighborhood residents were initially opposed to speed humps, the temporary test was designed to assess both their effectiveness and the neighborhood response. The first hump was installed over a month ago and the second several weeks later. The plan is to keep the humps down for 60-90 days. Afterwards, a traffic study will be conducted and a meeting will be held to decide whether to install speed humps permanently.

The reaction so far has been quite positive. The city fathers have received numerous calls from people commenting that motorists are definitely slowing down as a result of the speed humps. Pedestrians feel safer, and cars slow down to the posted speed limit. So far, the speed humps have been a success.

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