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Greer council grants variance to advance traffic‑calming on Cunningham and Vandevender Drives
Summary
Council approved a variance to the city's traffic-calming petition rules after staff reported average daily trips below the policy threshold (Cunningham 154, Vandevender 85) but flagged speed and safety concerns; staff will proceed with neighborhood petitioning and final design.
Greer City Council voted to grant a variance that allows a traffic‑calming petition for Cunningham Drive and Vandevender (Van Venter) Drive to proceed even though measured traffic volumes fell short of the policy's minimum average daily trips.
Mister Buchanan of city engineering explained the procedure: the policy requires a minimum ADT of 300 vehicles per day to start the full petition process. Measured counts showed Cunningham at 154 ADT and Vandevender at 85 ADT; 85th‑percentile speeds were roughly in the low‑to‑mid 30s, with maximum speeds into the 40s. Because of local safety concerns near a school and reported traffic-pattern changes, staff recommended a variance to allow the neighborhood petition to continue to the next step.
If the variance proceeds, the next step is a neighborhood petition requiring a larger share of resident signatures within the impact area, followed by final design work (location constraints include driveways, hydrants and utilities). Staff told council that preliminary design work has identified likely speed‑hump locations but that exact placements will shift to reflect homeowner consent and technical constraints.
Several council members voiced frustration with the pace of prior work on the problem and urged staff to move quickly; staff said design is substantially complete and that the variance is the procedural step needed to move to implementation. Council approved the variance by roll call.
What happens next: Engineering will proceed with the neighborhood petition, finalize design to meet spacing and utility constraints, notify affected residents and, if petition thresholds are met, schedule installation of speed humps.
