GAINESVILLE – Have you been hoping that Hall County would come and install a speed bump in your neighborhood to slow down drivers who ignore the posted speed limit?
Now you don’t have to wait until Hall County traffic experts make that determination; now you can be part of the process; that is, if a measure under consideration by Hall County commissioners is approved when they meet in two weeks.
Thursday night an amendment allowing homeowner groups or individual citizens to initiate the process passed first reading. A second reading, public hearing and final vote is scheduled for July 22.
Hall County’s Director of Public Works and Utilities Srikanth Yamala said the decision to amend the Official Code of Hall County arose after several homeowner associations in the county contacted his department asking for the installation of “speed moderating devices” - or speed tables - in their neighborhoods.
“Since we do not have any formal mechanism in place (to handle the requests), we studied surrounding counties and that result is this new chapter,” Yamala said.
The “Residential Speed Control Program”, as it will be known if approved, does have minimum requirements for determining whether or not to grant the speed table application:
1. Roadway Type: Speed tables can only be considered for roadways classified as local or residential with a speed limit of 30-mph or less determined in accordance with State and County law. Roadways classified by Hall County and the Georgia Department of Transportation as collector, arterial or above are not eligible for speed tables.
2. Prevailing Speed: The measured 85th percentile speed must be at least eleven (11) miles per hour above the posted speed limit for speed tables to be considered.
3. Traffic Volume: Speed Tables are only considered on roadways with traffic volumes less than 3000 vehicles per day.
4. Street Width: Speed tables shall not be considered on roadways less than twenty (20) feet wide or on roadways greater than thirty (30) feet in width.
5. Road Length: Speed tables shall not be considered on roadways less than 500 feet in length. The minimum length is required to provide adequate sight distance and for the installation of advance warning signs and pavement markings.
6. Number of Lanes: Speed tables shall not be considered on roadways with more than one lane in each direction.
7. Roadway Grade: Speed tables shall not be installed on roadways with a grade greater than eight percent (eight foot vertical rise or fall in one hundred feet of roadway) in the section where tables are to be installed.
8. Roadway Alignment: Speed Tables shall not be installed on roadways with severe vertical or horizontal alignment (curves). Speed hump installations shall be visible to oncoming motorists for a minimum of two hundred (200) feet.
9. Traffic Diversion: Speed Tables shall not be placed on a roadway if an engineering study reveals a significant potential for traffic diversion to another residential roadway.
10. Roadway Drainage: Speed tables shall not be installed on roadways with significant drainage problems or on roadways where the hump will cause significant drainage problems without first addressing drainage issues.
11. Roadway Use: Speed tables shall not be installed on designated truck or transit routes or on any roadway identified as a primary emergency route by any emergency response agency.
12. Physical Conditions: Speed tables shall not be installed adjacent to or in driveways, over underground access covers, or adjacent to catch basins or drainage structures. Additionally, speed tables shall not be installed on roadways in poor condition – the roadway must first be resurfaced.
And this you need to know: speed tables are not free.
Yamala told county commissioners, “A petition must be signed at least by 75-percent of the people living along the said street.”
The county will then conduct a traffic study of the location and, if warranted, the measure will go before the county commission for approval. If approved, the county will arrange for an approved contractor to do the work.
“The cost will be allocated to every single property owner in the subdivision on their tax bill, and in addition they will receive a $12 (per year) maintenance fee,” Yamala added.
