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Remember no one is asking for an end to traffic calming, just TC reform. You be the judge.
8:28 PM 8/14/1998 from the Houston Chronicle
by
DAN
FELDSTEIN
The people who erect Houston's speed humps -- 1,800 and counting -- are wondering if there is such a thing as a hump saturation point.
The city's Public Works Department is considering making it tougher to get a hump and even making it possible to remove one.
"People are saying, `You know, there are getting to be a lot of these,' and we're saying, `Hmm, maybe you're right,' " said Gary Schatz, a city traffic engineer.
The low humps of asphalt were introduced in 1995 to lessen the demand for street-closings, which had become a highly contentious issue. Now speed humps are the contentious issue.
For every driver they have infuriated, there is an equally infuriated resident with a small child who demands that cars be forced to slow down.
The city receives hundreds more requests for humps than it has money to fill, another good reason to raise the standards, Schatz said.
Schatz has installed humps in every corner of the city, but even he admits that his wife can't stand them and his 16-year-old daughter has razzed him.
Some City Council members recently joined in the razzing. On Aug. 24, the city will hold a public hearing in the George R. Brown Convention Center, which is just barely large enough to hold everyone with an opinion on speed humps.
Some of the changes under consideration:
· Currently, a street where 15 percent of traffic is traveling above the speed limit is eligible for humps. Under the proposed changes, 15 percent would have to be traveling at least 5 mph above the speed limit. That will correct a situation where 30 mph streets with traffic going 31 mph have gotten humps, Schatz said.
· Currently, streets used by more than 8,000 vehicles a day cannot get humps. That threshold would be lowered to 5,000. That means that many "collector" streets -- halfway between a typical residential street and a thoroughfare -- would become ineligible. Example: Willowbend between Chimney Rock and Hillcroft now qualifies for humps but wouldn't in the new rules.
· In a major change, the Police and Fire departments would have a say on humps, because they slow down rescue vehicles and jostle ambulances. The Public Works Department will ask firefighters and police to delineate routes into neighborhoods that should not be impeded, Schatz said.
· A little-understood provision -- "evidence of support" -- would also change. A petition has no bearing on whether a street is technically eligible for humps, but it can boost a particular street when there are more streets eligible than money available to build them.
Under current petition rules, many residents who weren't home or weren't contacted have no idea that humps are being considered and are shocked when they are installed. In the new rules, all lots on a street must be contacted for a yes, no or neutral signature.
If a street is ruled eligible for humps, all local community organizations must be notified by mail.
· Finally, residents who really hate the humps can petition for their removal. The percentage who want them removed would have to beat the percentage who originally asked for them.
In such cases, the neighborhood might be required to pay for removal itself, Schatz said. Also, for complicated reasons, the neighborhood that removes humps might risk seeing the speed limit raised.
Schatz said such fine-tuning is routine for a relatively new program.
"It's kind of like chili, and that was our first recipe. Now we want to improve it," he said.
He acknowledged that not everyone will be happy.
He's got that right. Anti-hump crusader Harold Barbin surely has felled a forest with his daily hand-written faxes to newspaper reporters and various public officials.
"I don't want any speed humps. They have no place on public streets and should be removed," he said Friday. Barbin thinks the humps are hazardous to automobiles and rescue vehicles and impair a citizen's right to travel 30 mph when the sign says 30 mph.
Those who want to speak at the hearing must register in advance. Call (713) 658-4300 to sign up during weekday business hours. Cutoff is at noon, Aug. 24, and speakers will be heard in order that evening 6-10 p.m.
The city hopes to have new rules by Oct. 1. Schatz said it needs guidance for placement of the next 200 humps, which are funded under a contract that expires Dec. 1.