Title
Traffic Calming (B)
Explanation
As a response to neighborhood complaints about traffic speeds, the City of Gainesville has had a traffic calming program in operation for approximately 20 years. Since 1997, the program has included installation of speed humps and speed tables. These traffic control devices create concerns in three areas for Gainesville Fire Rescue (GFR): potential increases in emergency response times, potential weakening or damage to apparatus and equipment, and increased injury risk for responders. If the City of Gainesville continues to implement vertical devices that potentially impact emergency response travel speeds, the cumulative effect of those devices may contribute to the need to develop additional fire-rescue stations to facilitate the City of Gainesville's ability to meet national travel standards for fire and medical emergencies.
GFR conducted field tests over both speed humps and speed tables in a variety of neighborhoods. The tests confirmed that the cumulative effects of multiple devices, particularly speed humps, on roadway segments can potentially increase emergency response times based on a delay range of three (3) to twenty-three (23) seconds per device. With a national travel standard of four minutes as a benchmark, any devices that can slow responders by as much as 25% of that time should warrant exploration of alternatives. GFR acknowledges the need for neighborhoods to address their traffic speed concerns. GFR's goal is to partner with the Public Works Department to identify feasible alternatives that will meet neighborhood needs without significantly compromising emergency response times.
The traffic calming program is currently on hold pending a decision by the City Commission on whether to continue including speed humps and/or tables as alternatives in the program. City staff has explored alternative traffic calming tools based on a presentation by Dan Burden at the MTPO Transportation Symposiu...
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