Speed bumps: Cheh wants extensive traffic analysis

WASHINGTON -- Thud-thud, Thud-thud. It's a familiar sound on the streets of D.C., the sound of your tires rolling over speed bumps.

As speed bumps are installed at a rapid pace, Council member Mary Cheh, D-Ward 3, is growing frustrated by how easy it is to get the bumps installed.

Cheh will introduce legislation Tuesday that makes the process of requesting and getting a speed bump much tougher.

Cheh takes issue specifically with the D.C. Department of Transportation.

"What they've been doing is simply allowing blocks of people to sign a petition, and then they decide, well if it is not a road that is a collector or an arterial -- a more major road -- they just do it," Cheh tells WTOP.

According to DDOT, if 75 percent of residents on a particular block want a speed bump set up, the bumps can be installed before an extensive traffic analysis is completed.

"Yes, we have accelerated the process. The feeling is that people should not have to wait for the whole process to go through before they get some relief from speeders," says DDOT spokesperson John Lisle. "If we have not completed a full traffic study, we will come back."

Cheh has now crafted a bill that would require DDOT to conduct an extensive "traffic calming analysis" before installing high-impact traffic-calming measures on District roads.

"When you put in traffic calming measures like speed humps on one particular street, it has byproduct effects on the neighboring streets. It moves traffic, it diverts traffic," says Cheh.

At the root of this battle, the 3700 block of Morrison Street in Northwest. Three speed bumps went in, and the backlash began.

"The neighboring streets like Livingston and McKinley were up in arms about it," says Cheh. "They were up in arms about it not just because of the speed humps, but because of the process."

Since Adrian Fenty became mayor in 2007, the number of speed bumps in the nation's capital has jumped from 157 to 691.

The Fenty administration has authorized twice as many speed bumps in 2 1/2 years as the Williams administration authorized in five.

In addition to requiring a lengthier, in-depth, traffic analysis, Cheh's bill also requires the following:

• Once complete, the District must post the traffic-calming analyses online for public review.

• The District must provide the area Advisory Neighborhood Commission with 30 days notice of any proposed traffic calming measures.

• DDOT will have the flexibility to install experimental traffic-calming devices on a temporary basis to test their effectiveness. If the affected ANC is not consulted, the devices must be removed within 180 days.

(Copyright 2009 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)