One of the major concerns brought up by opponents to the recent Cone Boulevard rezoning was cut-through traffic.
The opponents noted that with the development generating an estimated 4,000 vehicle trips a day, a certain percentage was going to cut through the neighborhoods, creating more traffic on otherwise quiet residential streets.
There are ways to keep traffic on the main thoroughfares and off residential streets other than restricting development. The most notorious are speed bumps and their first cousin, speed humps, which are lower, wider versions of speed bumps. Greensboro did install speed humps on Cotswald Terrace, but they are a rarity in town.
Director of the Greensboro Department of Transportation (GDOT) Hanna Cockburn said the city was looking at a pilot program to evaluate different kinds of neighborhood speed control devices.
Cockburn said that because of the coronavirus, many more people are working from home and that has resulted in people viewing the traffic in their neighborhoods in a whole different light.
She said that one result was a “growing interest” by the public in neighborhood speed control devices.
Speed bumps are what most people talk about, but Cockburn said that there was a wide range of speed control devices now available and that “a lot of companies are creating temporary installations of these devices.”
There are a number of speed control devices that are not as intrusive as speed bumps or humps. One is to narrow the street at the intersections. This has been done in downtown Greensboro where the sidewalks at intersections extend a few feet out beyond the curb line.
Another is to turn residential intersections into mini traffic circles by placing a raised circular island in the middle of the intersection. This should not require any street widening but prevents vehicles from going straight through the intersection. The cost of installation is between $6,000 and $15,000.
In regard to the various neighborhood speed control devices, Cockburn said, “We’re open to having a conversation about it.”
One stumbling block toward moving forward is funding. Cockburn noted that most of the work done by GDOT is funded with state and federal grants that the city has to match, and she said that GDOT hasn’t found a good source of funding for speed control devices.
“She said that one result was a “growing interest” by the public in neighborhood speed control devices.” Not sure how long Ms. Cockburn has been GDOT Director, but that interest has been growing for at least 10 years. Speed bumps and speed controls for neighborhoods has been a hot topic of discussion at many Community Watch monthly meetings with GPD Resource Officers. GDOT representatives who were present at these meetings continually said Cotswald Terrace was a “test” and that GDOT has never had plans for bumps in any other neighborhoods. So if that has changed, please advise GPD and its Community Resource Officers and you can immediately be supplied with a list of streets and intersections that need to be evaluated due to cut throughs, excessive speed, and other traffic issues.
“We’re open to having a conversation about it.” Well, set a time and place, or time and zoom, and I’m sure you will receive many replies from the neighborhoods.
There is a global war being waged against the private automobile by the political Left. They despise it and resent it because it is an embodiment of individual freedom. The elimination of car lanes for unused bike lanes, the pedestrianization of downtowns (and the subsequent decline), and the neverending clamor for ever lower speed limits….all are part of the Left’s war on our cars.
Fight it wherever you can – or we’ll end up like Europe with massive congestion, speed cameras everywhere enforcing 20mph speed limits, and $6/gallon gasoline.
Really.
When I drive in Europe, people drive as fast as they want on freeways. They’re usually less congested, too, with $6 gas and all.
Where there is a portrait, there is a bust.