Re: Traffic Calming
Tim Saults
Hi Tim,
On behalf of the mayor, I would like to address the concerns that came up in your email thread. Please feel free to share this with folks in South Woodlawn.
The City has heard neighborhood’s concerns with regard to the Neighborhood Traffic Safety Program process. We are currently working with a contracted agency to improve our program, but in the meantime the program we have in place is what we have to go by.
For petitions in the current process, 50%+1 is required. In the case of South Woodlawn, the folks that gathered petitions got way more than what was needed.
Petitions:
Hedgeapple Ln. (Young High Pike to Moody Ave.) – 75% in favor
Busbee Rd. - 76% signed petition in favor
Greenwood Ave. – 85.7% signed in favor
Our process allows homeowners or renters to sign petitions. The renter is the one dealing with the speeder, not the owner if they don’t live there.
In the city, all new speed humps are accompanied with signage. Transportation Engineering puts out what is deemed necessary based on standards. Speed humps are designed so that folks can drive over them at about 25 mph, which in most neighborhoods that is the speed limit. After studies are done, people usually drive over them going about 20-22 mph.
That is correct, there is no mechanism to remove speed humps at this time. This is because, if folks on a street get a majority of households to sign petitions for them, there will not be a majority of people to take them up. Over time the makeup of the folks that live on a street could change and if that happens then this could potentially be addressed.
Sidewalk requests are a completely different process and are not part of the same money as the Neighborhood Traffic Safety Program. Getting one does not rule out the other.
I am sorry that for the person that did not feel safe walking in their last neighborhood. In some areas of Knoxville, even with speed humps, the topography, blind curves, drop-offs, etc., can contribute to an area remaining not walkable. The speed humps can still slow down traffic, which is safer.
In the case of South Woodlawn, the City responds to neighborhood requests. The majority of neighbors that live on the streets in the application were in favor of speed humps. That warranted the speed studies. The speed studies showed significant speeding. Here are the results in your area.
Speed Study Results:
Hedgeapple Ln. - 85th percentile speed 34 mph | 946 – average number of vehicles traveling on the street per day
Greenwood Ave. - 85th percentile speed 33 mph | 154 ADT – average number of vehicles traveling on the street per day
Busbee Rd. - 85th percentile speed 37 mph | 463 ADT – average number of vehicles traveling on the street per day
The 85th percentile speed is the speed that 85% of drivers feel comfortable driving at. So 85% of people drive at or below this speed. 15% of drivers exceed this speed.
For the City, we are looking at safety as the prime concern. People on the streets where there is speeding have to deal with speeders coming and going from there driveway, getting mail out of their mailbox, mowing their lawn, etc. When speeding is shown and there is majority support for the speed humps, the City proceeds with construction.
The City is currently low in police officers, that is why you may not see as many, but they are still out and about making sure that our neighborhoods are as safe as possible. Having speed humps will not prevent them from patrolling an area if there are still issues, but it could slow traffic down so that there aren’t as many speeding issues for them to deal with.
If you have any further questions, please let me know.
Thank you for reaching out!
Debbie Sharp
(she/her/hers)
Neighborhood Coordinator
Office: 865-215-4382
Website: www.KnoxvilleTN.gov
