Navigation
User login
Traffic Calming in Your Neighbourhood
Whenever I make a public presentation and then open the floor to questions people always highlight the traffic problems in their neighbourhoods and ask why the police never seem to be doing anything about them. I always feel inadequate when I point out that those same problems exist everywhere in our community and the police can only be there occasionally. If the police response is not what you would wish, are there alternatives?
There is an alternative that is gaining popularity, and it is one that operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week all year long. Traffic calming is 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.
In the past, the most common traffic calming measure was to put up stop signs that inconvenienced drivers and forced them onto other routes. Today many alternatives exist, such as speed humps (longer than speed bumps), chicanes, chokers, and traffic circles. All of these allow the passage of traffic, but at a slower pace than normal street construction.
Implementing these alternatives will require the participation of your neighbourhood and the municipal government. The Better Environmentally Sound Transportation web site is one source of information. The site contains the full text of their publication "How to Reclaim Your Street - a Community Guide" The Guide takes you from mobilizing your neighbourhood to finding allies in City Hall as well as providing case studies from the Lower Mainland area of British Columbia.
References:
BEST - Street Reclaiming Guide Book
ITE - Traffic Calming for Communities
Comments
Traffic calming is another
Traffic calming is another incorrect form of response to local traffic problems, many times it is used to no avail, and there is the occasional time when a chicane or road narrowing helps remedy a problem.
Traffic calming measures are only implemented if a certain percentage of area residents agree to have them installed. Also, many people whom live close to you, are part of the problem that require the need for traffic calming measures, so getting them to sign for consent to implement some form of traffic calming is not going to happen. So even if a few of your local neighbors agree to have something done, it may not go through, because others won't agree to it.
People need to be accountable for their actions, period.
If local municipal Government cannot see a problem in a City as a whole, and have Police deal with accountability of bad drivers, then they need step down. Implementing traffic calming measures to slow traffic down; at the taxpayers cost is ridiculous. If anyone should pay for anything, it's those responsible for breaking laws and showing disrespect, not your average good-natured Citizen.
Traffic Law enforcement is desperately needed, and is the correct solution. Those drivers who are not following laws, and that are showing a lack of disrespect for residents should be the ones paying for a policing service to police them in lieu of traffic fine revenue.
Traffic calming is not the solution, but most times, a temporary band-aid remedy.