St. Louis-area traffic plan opposed by business owners

STLToday reports: Everyone in the Southampton neighborhood agrees the area has a serious speeding problem, but not everyone sees eye to eye on how to solve it. . . .

Businesses say they would not endorse the multi-phased plan developed by the neighborhood association. The association last January put together a task force that worked with engineers and traffic experts to design the plan. . . .

"Neck downs'" force drivers to slow down by reducing lane width by extending the curb into the street along the corners.

Businesses owners fear that narrowed-down street corners will take away needed space for deliveries and parking.

Neighborhood association president Phil Klevorn said neck-downs would be only placed on the corners and would not narrow down the entire street nor would they take away parking space.

If I may editorialize:

• A nationally known urban designer found that "in all the surveys he has done around shopping districts, the biggest problems are not security issues. They are traffic issues-the speed of vehicles, the noise of vehicles, the congestion." (See Dom Nozzi's page.)
  
  
• Traffic calming often has such a beneficial effect on neighboring businesses that the increase in tax revenues alone pays for the traffic calming project.

This means that business owners ought to be the biggest supporters of the road calming measures. It is unfortunate that they were not brought into the decision-making process sooner. If they understood the reasons for the changes and the benefits they will bring, and if they felt themselves a part of the decision-making process, their opinion of the project would likely be far different.

• Study after study has shown that posted speed limits, enforcement, and even stop signs and stop lights have very little effect on vehicle speed. Drivers set their speed by how the road looks. To change vehicle speed, you must change the way the road looks to drivers.

This means that the business owners, in opposing the "neck downs", are likely opposing the part of the project that is likely to benefit them the most--by having the biggest effect on lower traffic speed and making the area more comfortable for pedestrians.

Traffic calming has been used successfully in various cities around the U.S., Europe, and the world. The idea is new to much of the Midwest, and so traffic-calming proposals often face opposition. But once well-designed traffic calming measures are in place, residents--and especially business owners--often find themselves supporting what they previously opposed. Here are typical results:

• "Motorists who found the 18 mile-per-hour (!!!) speed limit acceptable grew from 27 percent before the streets were calmed to 67 percent after the program began. Receptive residents along the streets grew from 30 percent before to 75 percent after."
  
  
• "The change was made facing 95% opposition from local residents, who felt that their trip times would increase. . . . Today nearly 95% of those fearing the change are openly thankful to PennDOT for making the roadway better for safety, mobility and access."

Read the entire article about the traffic plan for Southampton on the St. Louis Today web site.