Traffic calming: Drivers' headache is neighbors respite

For motorists in a hurry, the humps, bumps and other elements of traffic-calming efforts can be frustrating. But for residents of heavily trafficked neighborhoods, these projects can be highly beneficial.

 The city of Raleigh has made traffic-calming a top goal, according to a recent press release from the Public Works Department.

The city has completed four major traffic-calming projects since 2006 and more are on the way. In fact, the budget includes $2.7 million for traffic-calming over the next 10 years that pay for 13 projects per year, according to Thomas Fiorello, Traffic Calming Coordinator.

If you live in a neighborhood that serves as a cut-through or otherwise receives more than its share of high-speed traffic, a traffic calming program is one approach to consider. After getting a go-ahead from city planners, residents in the affected area must be sure they have at least 75 percent of their neighbors before traffic calming can be authorized.

So far, areas completed include Ashe Avenue/Park Avenue in west Raleigh; Eagle Trace Drive in northeast Raleigh; Plaza Place in northwest Raleigh and Morning Dove Drive in north Raleigh. A fifth project, on Anderson Drive, is underway, including removing a merge lane from Six Forks Road southbound to Anderson Drive and the addition of a median islands and a bicycle lane.

The speed limit on Anderson Street Drive also is being reduced to 30 mph. Streets already in the planning stages are: Kaplan Drive from Kent Road to Melbourne Road; Brookside Drive from Watauga Street to Glascock Street; Glascock Street from Norris Street to North Raleigh Boulevard; Rainwater Road from Spring Forest Road to Hunting Ridge Road; and, Milburnie Road from Raleigh Boulevard to Chatham Lane.

The City Council is scheduled to receive an update on traffic-calming projects at its Sept. 18 meeting.