At the Signal Mountain council meeting Monday night a “traffic calming” presentation was made by Volkert Engineering to address the problems created when traffic patterns changed after the Signal Mountain Middle High School was built. The Hidden Brook subdivision that was once quiet with little traffic now has become a short cut to the school. The town is attempting to find a way of dealing with the increased number of cars and speeding through the area.
Volkert has been in business for 90 years and is a multi-faceted engineering firm said Jim Floyd. He and Cindy Shell, the engineers conducting this study, specialize in transportation. Mayor Dick Gee said that he wanted people in the audience to understand that the town is dealing with experts in the field.
Ms. Shell collected statistics at the problem areas for around 45 minutes during school traffic. Her truck was visible and once people realized she was observing them they might have driven more cautiously, and skewed the data, she said. But, what she found was that the average speed was 34.9 mph despite the speed limit being posted at 25 mph. The average driver going 10 mph over the speed limit in a neighborhood is significant, she said, but people did obey the stop signs. She found no accident data.
Five methods were considered as appropriate mitigation to help prevent speeding. Speed bumps, which are currently being used, are narrow areas that are raised about two and a half inches. These are traditionally used in parking lots, and cause cars to slow to 5-10 mph. Speed humps are areas of pavement that are raised three-three and a half inches and are 12-14 feet long. They will slow traffic to around 20 m.p.h. the engineers said. Speed tables are the same height but are 22 feet in length. The tables are known to reduce speeds to 25-30 mph. Another way of forcing cars to reduce speed is to build curb extensions that extend into the roadway to narrow it. Rumble strips were not considered because they are noisy.
Recommendations to help solve the problems were made to replace speed bumps on Hidden Brook Lane and Middle Creek Road with speed humps. The new devices would be built at the same location as the speed bumps that are now there. On Inverness Drive, at 1119-1123 Glamis Circle and 33-37 Hidden Brook Lane, radar feed-back speed signs were proposed. Minimal traffic was observed on Arden Way which is not included in the cut-through route, so no action was suggested for this road.
The mayor asked if speed indicator signs were effective. Ms. Shell said she was not aware of any data to support this tactic, but that “Chattanooga thinks they’re effective to some degree.” Vice Mayor Bill Wallace said he was reluctant to bring it up, but asked the engineers if there had been consideration given to just raising the speed limit to 35 mph. An answer could not be given, said Ms. Shell, because the company was asked to look at calming the traffic which is the opposite of increasing speed. She said if the limit is 35 then people would travel at 50 mph. Mayor Gee commented that “speeding is not the issue. It is really about how fast that people can stop.”
Councilmember Robert Spalding was told no when he asked if the study had addressed the blind curves. Ms. Shell answered that this was intended to be a preliminary report and issues other than speed could be addressed. She said that warning signs at these blind areas could be a possibility.
With applause after each citizen was allowed to speak about his/her opinions, it appeared residents were evenly divided on the various suggestions. One speaker said that action is taken based on perceived not real needs, as he said he did not think any calming effects are necessary. Another resident who lives on Hidden Brook Lane said walking along the road is dangerous and he liked the idea of speed humps. It should be the responsibility of parents to teach children not to play in the streets said one resident. You can teach them every day, said another speaker, but there is a lapse of judgment with children.
Mayor Gee said that the result of the traffic study will be considered by the council members and action is expected to take place at the next council meeting.
In other business, Mr. Spalding suggested putting police reports on the town’s website so people will know what is going on in the community. It also might alert residents to suspicious cars or activity on the mountain, he said. Police Chief Mike Williams said it was a good idea and it could be done without violating security issues. These reports are generated monthly and will be added to the website at the time they are distributed to the council.
Council member Chris Howley announced that taxes received by the town for the last four months were down by 20 percent. He blamed the problem on the moratorium put into effect by the WWTA that has resulted in not opening new businesses. He said the money lost might have to be made up in property taxes. The mayor replied that the problem will not go away anytime soon.