Columbia’s city council adopted the Neighborhood Traffic Management Program Monday.
The program allows the Public Works Department to work with residents to fix problems in their neighborhood and aims to help calm traffic on residential streets. A neighborhood can make a request to fix traffic and a study will be performed to see if the issue is of legitimate concern.
“It’s great to have some kind of uniform strategy for handling questions that come up from neighborhood residents and neighborhood leaders,” said Community Development Director Tim Teddy.
The program will implement techniques to reduce vehicle accidents, speeding, and traffic noise. These techniques include neighborhood watch programs, an increased law enforcement presence, lower speed limits, or making physical changes to the roadway.
Neighborhood concerns will be identified and studied, and a solution will be developed to solve the issue. The program was created to address specific concerns within a neighborhood.
The program has three levels to manage traffic. Increasing safety is level one, consisting of ways to regulate, warn, guide, inform, enforce, and educate motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians. Level two involves speed controlling devices. Level three is for traffic control and finding ways to reduce cut-through traffic on residential streets.
After a solution is provided, citizens will receive a survey as to whether the program’s solution was effective.
