Creekwood petition splits neighbors; public works recommends wider travel lanes, committee to refer to traffic and parking

HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. — A petition and a mailed survey produced conflicting results in Creekwood subdivision as residents considered pavement markings and neighborhood traffic-calming measures at the Public Works Committee meeting Oct. 28.

Public works staff told the committee they mailed notices to about 180 residents; nine responses arrived by mail — five in favor of pavement markings and four opposed. Separately, a resident petition returned 88 signatures in favor while 92 residents did not sign; staff counted the nonrespondents as opposed for purposes of the tabulation presented to the committee.

Sarah (public works staff) said the city’s traffic engineer and national guidance (MUTCD, AASHTO) do not recommend marking 9-foot travel lanes for the city’s residential cross sections. Public works recommended 10-foot travel lanes with 4-foot shoulders (or pedestrian/bike markings) where pavement width permits. Sarah said many streets do not have consistent pavement width across cross sections to support 9-foot marked lanes on both sides.

Traffic study findings: staff said the corridor barely met the city’s threshold for traffic-calming study — around 500 vehicles per day — and reported an 85th-percentile speed near 37 mph (the previous study recorded 36 mph). Staff noted one outlier vehicle recorded at about 83 mph.

Committee action and next steps: Alderman Robertson and others asked that the Traffic & Parking Committee — which includes police, fire, planning and public works — review the engineer’s recommendation and precedent from other neighborhood projects (Jefferson Drive used 10-foot lanes and a four-foot bike lane on one side). The committee agreed to add Creekwood to the Traffic & Parking Committee agenda for further review and asked staff to provide the full petition and the survey results.

Why it matters: The choice of striping width affects vehicle clearance, fire and emergency access, and bicycle/pedestrian accommodations. Staff said preserving a 10-foot travel lane standard provides more consistent operational width for emergency vehicles and avoids marking lanes where pavement cross sections are insufficient.

What residents asked for: Petitioners also requested speed humps and solar-powered speed display signs. Staff said speed humps present fire access challenges in single-access neighborhoods and that the city will consider solar speed display signs as a potential inventory item in a future budget if strict placement parameters are adopted.