Traffic calming can speed up drivers' ire

Robert Wells, senior engineer and technician of Montgomery County's traffic-calming program, says the community today generally favors the humps. But sometimes he fields calls from residents who initially supported the measures and now have a case of buyers' remorse.

"They didn't realize that that many were going to go in," Mr. Wells says, describing a one-mile stretch of residential road that boasts 20 speed humps.

In Alexandria, city planners have installed the humps only in neighborhoods where 65 percent of affected homeowners ask for them, says Paul DeMaio, Alexandria's new traffic-calming coordinator.

After receiving a neighborhood traffic-calming request, the city conducts a detailed study of the site to determine if it meets the criteria for speed and excessive volume. To qualify, more than 15 percent of drivers must travel at least 5 m.p.h. over the posted limit, or more than 300 vehicles an hour must pass along that section of residential road.

Bill Hendrickson, president of the Del Ray citizens' association in Alexandria, says there is "strong support for traffic calming overall" among residents of his leafy neighborhood.

The aim is not to impede traffic, he says. But Mr. Hendrickson says he hopes the speed humps will discourage drivers from cutting through the neighborhood as they try to avoid the nearby commuter artery. "They don't have the right to drive as fast as they like," Hendrickson says.

Opponents, however, say the humps are annoying at best and can actually do more harm than good. Alexandria resident Mr. Duncan, who declined to give his first name, says indignantly: "First they're telling me to wear a seat belt, then you can't use a cellphone in the car. Now, you're going to tell me how to drive my car on the roads?"

Rick Hall, who heads Americans Against Traffic Calming out of Austin, Texas, says the humps can cause back and head injuries to riders who bounce up and hit the ceiling of their car. They also slow down emergency vehicles.

Alexandria Fire Chief Thomas Hawkins says the speed tables have created additional wear and tear on the city's emergency vehicles. In fact, he says the fire department is working with the city to consider an alternative to speed tables: "speed cushions," which provide grooves wide enough for fire trucks to pass through unimpeded.

The city is also establishing emergency routes that will remain free of speed tables, says Mr. DeMaio, the Alexandria coordinator.

Despite the controversy, the traffic-calming movement in the US will likely accelerate over the next decade, experts say. Amanda Wallingford, who walks her dog in Alexandria, is resigned to the proliferation of humps. "They can be annoying, but they're a necessary evil," she says.

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