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Red Bank advances traffic-safety plan for Ashland Terrace and Morrison Springs; SS4A grant could fund temporary demonstration projects
Summary
Commissioners reviewed data-driven proposals to slow speeding and improve school-zone safety on Ashland Terrace and Morrison Springs, including proposed speed-limit changes, school-zone designations, and potential enforcement technology; the city is a potential SS4A grant awardee but awaits formal DOT notification before procurement.
Red Bank officials presented a multi-phase traffic-safety plan focused on two problem corridors — Ashland Terrace (the east-west S-curve and Dayton Boulevard vicinity) and Morrison Springs — and described how a potential U.S. Department of Transportation Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grant would help fund temporary demonstration projects.
"We have approximately 18,000, a little under on average, cars that come through Ashland Terrace each day," the presenting staff member said, summarizing traffic-volume data that undergirds the recommendations. Staff reported crash counts on Ashland Terrace rising from roughly 15–20 per year historically to about 40–45 per year over the last several years; in 2025 there were 44 crashes, including nine injury crashes.
Staff recommended a phased approach: near-term changes to posted speeds and school-zone designations, targeted installation of modern signage (including digital flashing signs for school hours), exploration of traffic-enforcement technology where policing is difficult, and longer-term pavement or geometric changes timed with repaving cycles. For Ashland Terrace, consultants recommended posting 35 mph rather than the existing 25 mph to improve compliance; for school drop-off and pick-up the staff recommended 25 mph school-zone limits and 15 mph on adjacent two-lane side streets during active school times.
The commission was briefed on Morrison Springs data showing roughly 14,000 vehicles per day and that, during active school-zone times, large percentages of drivers exceeded posted limits (staff reported 82% exceeding by 5 mph and 64% exceeding by 11+ mph during school-zone hours). Staff proposed temporary bike-lane separators, striping changes, and reconfiguration opportunities where budgets and right-of-way permit.
Director Kate said the city's SS4A application (authorized by resolution 25-18-05 on 06/17/2025) produced a preliminary notification of potential selection on 12/30/2025 but that the city cannot begin procurement until the U.S. DOT issues formal notice and a project number. "As soon as the news got out, there was, like, 240 Facebook posts and about 235 of them were negative," she told commissioners, and staff emphasized the images posted publicly were conceptual illustrations used for grant cost estimates, not design plans.
Most proposed elements will require ordinance action (speed-limit changes and school-zone codification) or future procurements under TDOT and federal procurement rules; staff said funding for signs and temporary devices was included in current budgets for initial steps but that larger construction or repaving projects would require additional budgeting or external grants.
Next steps: staff will return with formal speed-limit and school-zone ordinances for commission approval, procurement steps pending formal SS4A award, and more detailed design and budgeting for longer-term geometrical or repaving changes.
