Traffic calming measures like asphalt speed cushions can slow drivers down. They can also make crashes less likely or less severe when they do happen.
You can request traffic calming for eligible streets. The Department of Streets will review your request, score it, and contact you for further information if it’s selected for traffic calming.
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Types of traffic calming measures
As part of the review process, the City will determine what measures are best for a selected street.
Currently, the City is focusing on installing permanent asphalt speed cushions because they’re quicker to design and install than other types of traffic calming.
Who can request a review
This program is primarily intended for residents to request traffic calming for the streets where they live. Residents may also request traffic calming at nearby locations, such as a street by a school or library.
If your request is approved, you must submit a neighborhood petition signed by at least 60 percent of the residents on the block.
Street eligibility and requirements
To be eligible for review, a street must:
- Be at least 400-feet long between stop signs or traffic signals.
- Be at least 26-feet wide (for one-way streets) or 34-feet wide (for two-way streets).
Additionally, a street must not:
- Be a state highway or an arterial route. (These roads may need a more detailed analysis than residential streets.)
- Have uphill or downhill grades of 15% or more.
- Be a curving street.
Map of eligible streets
Enter an address on the map to locate a street. Green (or bold) segments are eligible for traffic calming review. Select a segment for details.
You can also call 311 and ask the operator to check the location’s eligibility.
Submit a request for traffic calming
If your street is eligible for review, you can use the following form to submit a request for traffic calming. You should only submit a request once. Repeated requests will be declined.
What happens next
Once your request is received, the City will confirm the street’s eligibility.
If the street is ineligible, you may get an automated message that closes the request. Otherwise, your request will proceed to the scoring process.
Eligible requests are scored based on:
- Crash data.
- Equity data for the area, such as the age, income, race, and ethnicity of its residents.
- The street’s nearness to community features that generate foot traffic, such as schools, parks, recreation centers, retirement homes, or older adult homes.
Three times a year, City staff review the highest-scoring requests. The City then visits these locations to make sure that traffic calming measures can be installed there.
For top-scoring locations where traffic calming can’t be installed, the City will contact residents to see if the problem can be addressed in another way.
If your request is not selected, it will stay in the system. Those that aren’t selected after three full rounds of review will be removed and requesters will be notified their request has expired.
If a street is selected for priority review and verified, you must compile a petition of 60 percent of the residents on the block, including renters and owners of apartment complexes.
Only one signature per household is allowed. The petitioner must be an adult and live on the block where the traffic calming measures will be installed.
Once the City receives your completed petition, they will design and install traffic calming treatments.
Installation time frames vary and may be coordinated with other projects, such as street resurfacing. Typically, the City installs speed cushions between May and October.