S.L. speed bump moratorium stands

The speed bump moratorium in Salt Lake City will stand, for now.

Following an hourlong briefing debating the pros and cons of speed bumps, the City Council Tuesday decided it will wait for more input before lifting the citywide ban on new speed bump construction. The council, then, will turn to residents at a Sept. 9 public hearing before making funds available to the transportation division to continue its traffic calming program.

Tuesday's briefing focused mostly on a City Council-ordered audit of the city's traffic-calming procedures. The audit found the city's policies were "innovative" and in line with similar traffic calming polices in cities like Portland and Vancouver.

But many council members say the city's polices are far from innovative. Instead, city transportation officials are too quick to opt for a speed bump as opposed to less-intrusive measures that could similarly reduce speed on neighborhood streets.

"I'm still sort of troubled that we're not there yet," Councilwoman Jill Love said before the meeting. "My concern is that speed bumps are always our first response instead of considering other options."

Councilman Dave Buhler agrees.

"Basically speed bumps are a good tool in some circumstances but we don't need to rely on them as much as we have," said Buhler, also speaking prior to the meeting.

Council members suggested increased police enforcement of speed limits or additional stop signs

But assistant Police Chief Scott Folsom said enforcement hasn't worked.

"We're writing speeding tickets on the same streets we were 20 years ago," Folsom said.

And while stop signs are cheap and easy to install, transportation director Tim Harpst said they can become a safety hazard as drivers sometimes ignore stop signs in residential areas with sparse traffic.

Harpst noted there is a great public demand for traffic calming measures including speed bumps, and streets have to meet an 80-point qualification standard before become eligible for traffic calming.

Still, the council wasn't sold. Many members want city staffers to examine the possibility of privatizing speed bump construction. That way the city would quit paying for the bumps and residents who really want them would have to raise money themselves to have them installed. Or, perhaps, Harpst suggested, residents could post lawn signs along streets urging drivers to slow down as one Avenues neighborhood did.

Many council members want Harpst and crew to look at more innovative alternatives like roundabouts, for instance.

There is a large waiting list of residents who want traffic calming on their street.

Since the program started in 1998, 285 requests for traffic calming have been made to the city. Of those, only 24 have received traffic calming devices, which are usually speed bumps but can also include street narrowing.

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