| You know ‘em and you love ‘em! (NOT!) Speed bumps are a way of life in many neighborhoods to slow drivers down from driving at excessive rates of speed! Spring Hill, Tennessee has a new idea – one of the first I have seen in this area! They call it “bulb-outs” (technically called chicanes). You see the picture. Rather ODD isn’t it? (or maybe I should say “different!”) Why Chicanes? As the City of Spring Hill expressed in a press release, speeding has been an ongoing problem on this section of Stewart Campbell Point due to its connection into the Brixworth subdivision and access to Buckner Lane. Neighbors and HOA representatives contacted the City requesting police enforcement to reduce the speeding. Despite police issuing several tickets, speeding continued. The next step was a Neighborhood Traffic Calming Study, which verified the community’s speeding concerns. RADAR boards were placed in the hopes that it would remind drivers to slow down. “Often times we’ve found that distracted drivers simply aren’t aware how fast they are going and the feedback will cause them to slow down. The RADAR board had some effect but not enough, which meant the drivers were ignoring the feedback and then speeding on purpose,” the City of Spring Hill says. Speed bumps were requested by the HOA, but the City states this road is a primary route for fire trucks, so speed bumps are not a preferred solution. Therefore, chicanes were recommended by city staff. “The Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) recommended that BOMA fund a design and implementation plan. An engineering firm specializing in traffic engineering was selected and developed the new design, taking into consideration all the limiting factors, such as driveway spacing, appropriate separation of on-coming traffic, and sight distance (near Jutes Drive). That design was approved by the TAC and was presented to the HOA for commentary and feedback.” Repaving was already on the docket for Stewart Campbell Point; therefore, chicanes were simply added at a cost of approximately $8,000. The City states it is already collecting traffic data to determine if the chicanes are having the intended impact and effect. “We are collecting data to help us understand what’s happening in the corridor. This information will guide our decisions in the future,” said Victor Lay Spring Hill City Administrator. Some citizen thoughts on chicanes? Many locals have expressed their thoughts via social media. Some think it’s a nice solution to calm traffic, others say it isn’t effective. Citizen Comments: “The cities own traffic collection data has shown that these concrete islands have not stopped the high-speed violations that occur every day on this residential street. The residents that live on Stewart Campbell Pt are not asking the city for extravagant favors or special treatment. We simply want our road safe for the many people that live, walk, and ride their bikes on Stewart Campbell Pt. Mayor Graham, Victor Lay, KCI Technologies, and BOMA are all responsible for this disaster and need to make it a top priority to fix this complete failure and stop using our neighborhood road as a laboratory for traffic studies.” – Dave B “As a resident on the street, I can support the fact that most of us wanted something done about our problem with speeders. Although it’s quite early I believe we’ve seen an improvement and I will be interested to hear some data from the city in a few weeks.” – Nanci G “This will not solve any problem as you don’t have to do anything to get around them. This was a waste of money, and the person suggesting it should reimburse the city themselves. Sidewalks on both sides of the street would have been a better option of spending as many people still walk the street.” – Chris R ” I observed most cars can drive straight thru without slowing down or altering their course of direction.” – Thomas C “I think it’s silly, but…maybe I was being overly cautious, but Fri evening going down that street, I did slow down w/o realizing it.” – Blakely D |
| So there’s an update for you that most likely would slow someone down – if not for any other reason than the driver pausing to say: “WHAT HAPPENED HERE!?” If we can help with insurance, we are open and serving our folks. You can TEXT or CALL us at 615.377.1212 or EMAIL us at info@BentonWhite.com. Stay safe and healthy and as always, thanks for your business! |
