Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Traffic Calming topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Pickens County staff preview draft neighborhood speed-hump policy ahead of August meeting
Summary
County staff reviewed a draft policy for neighborhood speed humps that sets technical criteria (traffic-volume, visibility, grade, materials), petition thresholds for residents and a three-year minimum before removal; staff will bring revisions to the board on Aug. 19 for further consideration.
County staff presented a draft neighborhood speed-hump policy and asked commissioners to review it for placement on the board agenda Aug. 19.
The draft, circulated to commissioners before the work session, breaks the process into four parts: criteria governing installation, the citizen application/petition, the county review process, and the removal process. Staff summarized technical rules in the draft, including proposed limits on eligible roads, visibility and grade requirements, material specifications and petition thresholds. "So there are about 50 provisions in the overall draft that you have," one presenter said, adding the board had two weeks to propose edits.
Key technical thresholds highlighted by staff include a traffic-volume limit of 350 vehicles per day for eligible roadways, a minimum visibility of 200 feet on either side of a hump, a maximum road grade near the hump of 5%, a minimum roadway length of 600 feet, and a cap on posted speed limits of 25 mph for eligible locations. The draft requires speed humps be constructed of concrete or asphalt; "No plastic, no rubber, not even galvanized," the presenter said.
The draft also sets petition rules for resident requests: at least 80% approval from legal property owners on the affected roadway and at least 50% of legal property owners in the affected subdivision (property owners with multiple lots receive one vote; joint owners count as a single vote). A removal petition would be considered only after a speed hump has been in place at least three years.
The draft includes an inclement-weather provision that would require a written agreement acknowledging the county would not perform scraping or similar maintenance around the humps during frozen/inclement conditions, and a public-safety sign-off so the sheriff's office and county public-safety representatives confirm emergency-vehicle access. Staff said evaluations of vehicle volume would rely on data such as temporary sign/monitor readings or sheriff's office counts.
Commissioners and staff discussed narrow exceptions and how the policy applies to county-maintained subdivision roads versus other road types. The presenter noted the policy was modeled on neighboring counties' approaches and that staff will return a revised draft for the Aug. 19 meeting.
The board did not take formal action during the work session; staff asked commissioners to send any suggested edits to Bill or Lisa ahead of the meeting.
