David seeks Traffic Calming Manual endorsement by Council
September 18 ,2008
Manual outlines ways to 'calm' Northampton
traffic
By Chad Cain, Daily Hampshire Gazette
By Chad Cain, Daily Hampshire Gazette
NORTHAMPTON - A manual designed to improve the
safety of motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians by
"calming traffic" will be presented to the City
Council tonight.
Ward 4 Councilor David J. Narkewicz, chairman of the Transportation and Parking Commission, will discuss the city's traffic-calming manual, which has been approved by the commission and the Board of Public Works after more than a year of study.
The meeting begins with public comment at 7:15 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Puchalski Municipal Building, and is followed immediately by a Finance Committee meeting. After that, the regular session resumes.
The manual, discussed in public hearings and vetted by the Department of Public Works, outlines traffic-calming measures that might be used in spots throughout the city to induce drivers to slow down and pay more attention to their surroundings.
Traffic calming refers to a collection of physical changes made to a road, including narrowing the real or apparent width of the street, introducing slight curves, or installing speed bumps and raised crosswalks .
The manual does not give regulatory recommendations such as reducing speed limits or installing stop signs. Instead, traffic-calming measures are designed to be self-enforcing.
"Drivers are slowed down by the physical characteristics of the roadway, not by an artificially imposed speed limit or stop sign," the manual states.
The manual also defines a selection process city officials will use to decide which areas are in most need of attention. Citizens, city boards and departments can make requests for traffic calming to the commission. That request then goes through preliminary evaluation and public comment, followed by a needs assessment by the DPW.
Neighborhoods that qualify are then ranked on a list based on 10 factors, including road volume, speeding, crashes and more. Traffic-calming projects will compete for funding as part of the city's Capital Improvement Program process.
One area that might become a pilot for the program is in Ward 3, close to downtown. Many motorists use roads like Pomeroy Terrace, Hawley Street and their many offshoots to avoid the center of town.
Residents are using $15,000 in developers' fees to examine creative ways to keep the neighborhood safe despite the heavy traffic. This could include anything from improving sidewalks to painting eye-catching murals at intersections or on the railroad trestle over Holyoke Street.
Ward 4 Councilor David J. Narkewicz, chairman of the Transportation and Parking Commission, will discuss the city's traffic-calming manual, which has been approved by the commission and the Board of Public Works after more than a year of study.
The meeting begins with public comment at 7:15 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Puchalski Municipal Building, and is followed immediately by a Finance Committee meeting. After that, the regular session resumes.
The manual, discussed in public hearings and vetted by the Department of Public Works, outlines traffic-calming measures that might be used in spots throughout the city to induce drivers to slow down and pay more attention to their surroundings.
Traffic calming refers to a collection of physical changes made to a road, including narrowing the real or apparent width of the street, introducing slight curves, or installing speed bumps and raised crosswalks .
The manual does not give regulatory recommendations such as reducing speed limits or installing stop signs. Instead, traffic-calming measures are designed to be self-enforcing.
"Drivers are slowed down by the physical characteristics of the roadway, not by an artificially imposed speed limit or stop sign," the manual states.
The manual also defines a selection process city officials will use to decide which areas are in most need of attention. Citizens, city boards and departments can make requests for traffic calming to the commission. That request then goes through preliminary evaluation and public comment, followed by a needs assessment by the DPW.
Neighborhoods that qualify are then ranked on a list based on 10 factors, including road volume, speeding, crashes and more. Traffic-calming projects will compete for funding as part of the city's Capital Improvement Program process.
One area that might become a pilot for the program is in Ward 3, close to downtown. Many motorists use roads like Pomeroy Terrace, Hawley Street and their many offshoots to avoid the center of town.
Residents are using $15,000 in developers' fees to examine creative ways to keep the neighborhood safe despite the heavy traffic. This could include anything from improving sidewalks to painting eye-catching murals at intersections or on the railroad trestle over Holyoke Street.