Fairfax County presents plan for three new speed humps on western Fairway Drive; Task Force to ballot proposal

Fairfax County Department of Transportation staff on Thursday presented a proposed traffic-calming plan for the western portion of Fairway Drive that would add three speed humps with fire-and-rescue cutouts, after a 24-hour study showed high operating speeds on the roadway.

Ryan O'Carroll of the Fairfax County Department of Transportation said the study recorded about 1,400 vehicles in 24 hours and 80th-percentile speeds of 40 miles per hour eastbound and 34 miles per hour westbound — meeting the program's speed and volume criteria. "Traffic calming is the installation of physical devices to reduce vehicle speed," O'Carroll said, noting the county's five-step process from eligibility review to installation.

The draft plan calls for three additional vertical speed humps spaced to meet county and VDOT placement rules (minimum 300 feet between devices and 150 feet from intersections). The proposed humps would be about 12 feet long and 3 inches high, include fire-and-rescue cutouts, white chevrons, a double yellow center line and advisory 15 mph signage at each device.

Under the county's community-initiated ballot process, each occupied…