Norristown Municipal Council April 5 approved a traffic calming policy that will allow residents to petition to the municipality to install removable speed humps on their streets.
Residents who want a speed hump will have to file an official petition with the municipality that includes the signatures of at least 75 percent of the residents on the block where they believe a hump is needed. A review process of the site will commence and the police chief will help determine whether a speed hump will be appropriate for the petitioned block or not. After receiving public input on a proposed safety plan, the affected residents must vote to approve the final plan with a 75 percent majority.
Some of the things to consider when entertaining getting a speed hump on your block includes:
- The petitioned block must also be at least 1,000 feet long;
- Have a posted speed limit of 25 mph or less;
- Be located in a residentially zoned district and;
- The street must be owned and maintained by the municipality.
The municipality would not place speed humps at random, leaving it up to residents to affect the change they desire. A full list of guidelines on the application listed below.
Should a street be the public-right-of-way with no residential properties (e.g., East Oak Street between Simmons and MLK parks), the municipality can be petitioned directly through the Public Works department. The same review process would start.
At the March 15 council work session, Municipal officials discussed using removable speed humps as the preferred method to slow down cars that zoom along streets throughout many areas of the municipality. Speed humps will cost about $2,500 each and the Public Works department will be able to remove them as needed for any street maintenance, including snow removal in the winter.
No block can have more than two speed humps noted Municipal Engineer Khal Hassan.
Even with few streets having a speed limit over 25 mph, residents have complained about cars speeding down the wider streets in the west end, through denser areas near parks in the east end, and just about everywhere in between.
Engineer Hassan said the implementation of any sort of traffic calming initiatives looks at vehicle speed, sight distance and accident history in areas where calming initiatives may be needed. Thomas Odenigbo, Public Works Manager for the municipality, said speed humps were the most feasible option.
Documentation:
Speed Hump Policy
Speed Hump Policy Application