Slowing down traffic in a residential area

Brie

Does anyone have any experience/advice about slowing traffic in a residential area??

The street we are on is often quite quiet but during commute times (from about 5 til 10 am & 3 til 6 pm) it gets fairly busy.  There is a 30 mph limit in place but, as we all know, not everyone sticks to this.  Some of the really early birds appear to be doing closer to 50.  

Part of the problem is that it is a short cut.  There's a fairly main road goes past the bottom end of the road and then there's a roundabout to another main road which doubles back to the top of the street.   So basically there's something like a  < |   shape with our street being the |.   At the very bottom of the | there are some speed bumps but none for the majority including a bit which is houses with limited off road parking which makes the road single land due to the cars parked.  There is also a sports field at this point as well - so lots of kids about. 

Once the cars have slowly got through the crowded section the drivers hit the accelerator.   Quite silly really as there are stop lights at the top of the street so they can't gain too much advantage of this. 

Now I've been told in the past that speed bumps are not a good thing to have outside your house as cars/lorries make a fair bit of noise clunking over them or by slamming on the brakes.  I think that a speed camera might be a good idea and I also think that a size limit for through vehicles be put in place to limit the larger lorries using it. 

I'm not being a NIMBY (I believe) but just want to ensure that the street is safe.  I have disposed of one young fox that didn't manage to move out to of the way of a speeding car and trying to get in and out of drives can be perilous - particularly given that the council are on a nature drive (cost saving!) and don't trim the greenery that blocks one's view of on coming traffic.  Add to that the the kids at the sports ground and the predominantly elderly population (the age group I'm edging into...)  and slower traffic would just seem sensible.

Any ideas on how to proceed or are the foxes on their own?

BOWFER

We got speed bumps put in our street, they're a pain in the backside.
The noise of cars slowing down and then accelerating again is worse than if they just drove past in a higher gear.
Then there's the excruciating noise of undertrays scraping when people don't slow down enough.
We've successfully raised 'community concern' about the speed with the local police and they've come out with speed guns to catch them several times.
We're also trying to get funding for a solar-powered sign that flashes their speed red or green.

Ebe_Scrooge

In my opinion, so-called "speed" bumps should be banned under the Trades Descriptions Act - if anything, they slow you down :-)

They're probably the cheapest option, but I personally hate them.  Some of them are so vicious that you have to creep over them at 5 mph.  No bad thing, you might say, but I'm sure they must actually increase emissions with the constant braking and accelerating.  And they must impact emergency vehicles as well, where a couple of minutes added to a journey may make a massive difference.

A few months ago in our village they installed these signs that display your speed - you get a little green smiley face if you're doing 30 or less, a red sad face if you're doing over 30.  Obviously it won't stop anyone speeding, but it can help to make people more aware.  The other option is a chicane - basically the road narrows to single-track, with one direction having (clearly signed) priority over the other, and you have to slow down to negotiate the tight "S" bend.  Depends on how busy it is, but they can increase traffic congestion if there's a lot of cars.

So there's a few options - some more effective than others.  They always used to say that an actual speed camera can only be installed if there's a proven history of fatal or serious accidents at that spot - whether that's true or not, I don't know.

The other thing to bear in mind is cost - with councils stretched financially as it is, can they afford to install traffic-calming measures in preference to something else?

Suppose you always go with the old cliche of a few local volunteers in hi-viz jackets standing at the roadside pointing a hair-dryer at the oncoming traffic :-) 

facade

Be careful what you wish for.

What you want is a speed camera. What you might get is the road blocked off at one end, or in the middle

DMccoy

You are being a NIMBY.  I’d bet my house that you go speeding though other people’s villages.  But then you moan when people speed through yours.

BOWFER

DMccoy said:

You are being a NIMBY.  I’d bet my house that you go speeding though other people’s villages.  But then you moan when people speed through yours.

if it were me you were making that bet with, I'd already be turfing out the TV you've got mounted too high over the fireplace and picking new tiles for the bog.

AdrianC

https://communityspeedwatch.org

How many volunteers do you think you can organise?

Brie

DMccoy said:

You are being a NIMBY.  I’d bet my house that you go speeding though other people’s villages.  But then you moan when people speed through yours.

You can ask your solicitor to sign over the deeds at your earliest convenience!

Brie

facade said:

Be careful what you wish for.

What you want is a speed camera. What you might get is the road blocked off at one end, or in the middle

So true!  I actually wouldn't mind the road being blocked except that it would mean lorries bleepingly backing up!!  

BOWFER

One of my daily joys is when I beat people that use a 'rat-run' on my way to work, in their desperation to beat the proper route that has lights and get to work 2 minutes earlier (at best).

Biggus_Dickus

BOWFER said:

One of my daily joys is when I beat people that use a 'rat-run' on my way to work, in their desperation to beat the proper route that has lights and get to work 2 minutes earlier (at best).

 

Rush hour rat-runs are often the streets that need speed bumps the most.

Many rat-run drivers hurtle down these side-roads/short-cuts  at breakneck speed;...they’ve convinced themselves that choosing said rat-run will save time but they also feel compelled to drive like nutters,...just to be sure.