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My main concerns with Cheh's approach is that it will force DDOT into a bureaucratic crouch and also make it very expensive to get traffic calming, as DDOT has limited funds for multiple studies. It also is a broad-brush political response, and encompasses not just speed humps, but Seattle Circles and raised crosswalks (which are so benign that they are installed on collector streets in some localities). Speed humps, of course, should not be the only thing in DDOT's tool kit (and they're not). In fact, the ITE and other literature shows that humps are designed to slow speed, but they don't really address traffic volume such as where a narrow "local"-classified street becomes a busy cut-through. In other words, they divert little traffic, so that concern is overblown. Perhaps ome streets may gain some limited first mover advantage, but this ebbs if they are installed on nearby streets.

by DC Safer Streets on Oct 7, 2009 4:07 pm • link • report