Friday Reading

Some assert that traffic bumps actually cost lives by slowing down emergency vehicles too. I don’t know about that. Maybe.
Here’s a good overview of the different methods in use. Traffic Calming

I grew up in Hendersonville and was a teen when they installed the serpentine, also known as chicanes, on Main Street. At the time I heard people call it Kermit’s Crapout (Kermit Edney was an influential radio station owner and all-around Yoda of Henderson County boosterism; apparently he was somehow involved with the serpentine plan, though I don’t know any details). In any case, I think the Hendersonville serpentine is generally considered a success. It makes Main Street very walkable.

I also have close-up observation on the Edwin Place and Charlotte Street traffic islands, for I deliver mail there daily.
1. The posted speed limit on Edwin Place is 25 mph. I don’t recall what it was before. Most traffic still speeds.
2. These particular islands don’t make Edwin any safer, IMHO. Pulling out from a side street seems harder now. A left from Edwin to Charlotte Street now is near impossible.
3. Drivers from out of town, looking for the Grove Park Inn, often hit the islands, damaging their suspension and mauling the plantings. I recommend yellow or striped paint on the sides of the concrete to make the islands more noticeable.

Looking over the traffic calming methods made me think of something to try. Instead of massive, expensive bumps and islands, how about this:

Make U-shaped staples out of steel rebar and hammer them into pairs of holes drilled into the pavement. Lowe’s carries 1/2 inch by 4 foot steel rebar for $2.58 each. Assume that the staple needs to be driven a foot into the pavement, that gives a staple 2 feet wide. These could be placed almost at random in a stretch of road where speeding is considered a problem, creating 1/2 inch bumps in the road but leaving clear bike lanes. A stretch of road might look like this, with the letter I standing for a staple in the road:

__________________________________________________________________________

—————————————————————————
I I I I I
I I I
I I I I I
__ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
I I I I
I I I I
I I I I
I I I
—————————————————————————-

___________________________________________________________________________

That’s a pretty dense pattern of staples, but you get the idea: there’s less than a hundred dollars worth of rebar in this example. Bending them and sticking them in the pavement probably doesn’t add that much to the overall cost. According to the linked site, chicanes like the ones around Edwin must have cost more than $10,000 each.

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I also have close-up observation on the Edwin Place and Charlotte Street traffic islands, for I deliver mail there daily.
1. The posted speed limit on Edwin Place is 25 mph. I don’t recall what it was before. Most traffic still speeds.
2. These particular islands don’t make Edwin any safer, IMHO. Pulling out from a side street seems harder now. A left from Edwin to Charlotte Street now is near impossible.
3. Drivers from out of town, looking for the Grove Park Inn, often hit the islands, damaging their suspension and mauling the plantings. I recommend yellow or striped paint on the sides of the concrete to make the islands more noticeable.

Looking over the traffic calming methods made me think of something to try. Instead of massive, expensive bumps and islands, how about this:

Make U-shaped staples out of steel rebar and hammer them into pairs of holes drilled into the pavement. Lowe’s carries 1/2 inch by 4 foot steel rebar for $2.58 each. Assume that the staple needs to be driven a foot into the pavement, that gives a staple 2 feet wide. These could be placed almost at random in a stretch of road where speeding is considered a problem, creating 1/2 inch bumps in the road but leaving clear bike lanes. A stretch of road might look like this, with the letter I standing for a staple in the road:

__________________________________________________________________________

—————————————————————————
I I I I I
I I I
I I I I I
__ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
I I I I
I I I I
I I I I
I I I
—————————————————————————-

___________________________________________________________________________

That’s a pretty dense pattern of staples, but you get the idea: there’s less than a hundred dollars worth of rebar in this example. Bending them and sticking them in the pavement probably doesn’t add that much to the overall cost. According to the linked site, chicanes like the ones around Edwin must have cost more than $10,000 each.

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why not just put a bunch of potholes in the road? That’s a low cost way to slow people the eff down. Also, on a related note, is there anyway to pass a city ordinance that will allow pedestrians to open fire on people who drive while yacking on the phone? I’m thinking of you unidentified college girl who nearly killed me on WT Weaver two days ago. thanks.

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Rate this comment: 1  1