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Board amends traffic‑calming rules to allow staff replacement of devices during resurfacing and a sight‑distance exemption
Summary
Mount Juliet commissioners approved changes allowing public‑works staff to replace existing traffic‑calming devices with comparable controls when roads are resurfaced and to permit exceptions to the 85th‑percentile threshold where documented sight‑distance issues exist.
The Mount Juliet Board of Commissioners on April 28 amended the city’s traffic rules to give public works greater discretion to replace existing traffic‑calming devices during resurfacing and to allow a limited exception to the existing 85th‑percentile speed threshold where insufficient sight distance creates a documented safety hazard.
Under the change, existing speed control devices on roads that are resurfaced may be replaced by city staff with comparable devices that “produce the same or greater results” without requiring traffic‑commission review or approval. The board also added a narrowly written exception to the city’s 85th‑percentile rule: if the 85th‑percentile vehicle speed is less than 8 miles per hour over the posted limit, the public‑works director may still forward a request for traffic‑calming devices to the traffic commission if an intersection‑sight‑distance or stop‑sight‑distance analysis shows available sight distance is less than required by AASHTO standards and thus poses a safety issue.
Commissioner discussion noted the change will speed routine resurfacing work and reduce project delays for replacing deteriorated devices, but commissioners emphasized the city will require engineering analyses where the 85th‑percentile threshold is not met. The traffic item had been tabled earlier in the meeting so staff and commissioners could draft the exception language; the board adopted the amendment and approved the ordinance as amended.
What happens next: Staff said they will apply AASHTO sight‑distance standards when evaluating exception requests and continue to bring novel or nonstandard device requests to the traffic commission for review. The ordinance returns for second reading.
