A. 
General.
(1) 
A critical concern about the use of traffic calming devices is the delay they may create for emergency response vehicles, including fire engines, ambulances and law enforcement vehicles. It is important to be aware of the trade-offs when making decisions about the use of traffic calming devices. The more aggressive devices for slowing traffic will slow emergency vehicle response as well, and in some cases may cause safety concerns.
(2) 
It is important to point out that fire trucks respond to many life-threatening medical emergencies, such as heart attack victims, in addition to fire emergencies. Often, a fire truck is the first to respond to a medical emergency. Thus, to areas at the limits of current response times, any significant traffic calming devices will cause response time failures.
(3) 
Recognizing the importance of limiting any delays in emergency response time, all traffic calming devices will be designed to accommodate all emergency vehicles and to minimize their impacts on emergency vehicle response times. Most arterial and collector streets are considered primary emergency vehicle response routes and are used to access various parts of the Borough from the fire station. In order to minimize impacts to emergency vehicle response times, particular attention should be paid to the types of devices used on collector streets.
(4) 
Devices that considerably limit or restrict emergency vehicle access on collector streets will not be allowed.
B. 
Emergency response policies:
(1) 
Policy No. 1: Traffic calming measures shall be designed to accommodate all emergency vehicles and to minimize their impacts on emergency vehicle response times.
(2) 
Policy No. 2: Traffic calming measures shall be limited on primary response routes.
(3) 
Policy No. 3: The Fire Department and the Police Department should be involved in the development of the traffic calming measures in neighborhoods and should approve all proposed plans.
There are a few basic types of traffic calming devices that have different effects on the motoring public. It is important to understand how each type of device works and its impacts on motorists and emergency vehicles. The following discussion is divided to explain each type of device and the associated policies:
A. 
Horizontal shift and constriction devices.
(1) 
Horizontal shift devices include traffic circles, chicanes and medians. Constriction devices include curb extensions, neckdowns and chokers. Both horizontal shift and constriction devices slow traffic by physically forcing motorists to maneuver around the devices. The use of landscaping within these devices not only enhances the aesthetics of the streetscape but also increases their effectiveness by breaking up the motorist's line of sight, which reduces the comfortable speed of travel. Therefore, these devices, when used in conjunction with one another, are effective for a longer stretch of roadway rather than just in the immediate vicinity of the device. These devices also tend to have relatively lower impacts on emergency response times in that the vehicles can continue to move around the devices without stopping. However, use of these devices usually requires prohibition of on-street parking adjacent to the device.
(2) 
Policies on horizontal shift and constriction devices:
(a) 
Policy No. 4: No horizontal shift and constriction devices such as medians, traffic circles and chokers shall be used as acceptable traffic calming devices.
(b) 
Policy No. 5: Residents fronting the proposed devices must approve any required parking restrictions.
B. 
Vertical deflection devices.
(1) 
Vertical deflection devices include speed lumps, speed humps, speed tables, and raised crosswalks and intersections. The only vertical deflection device that is included in this program is the speed lump. Speed lumps are similar to speed humps, except they are divided into three lumps with one foot of space between each lump. The space between the lumps is specifically designed to accommodate the axle width of fire trucks. All other vehicles with smaller axle widths have to go over the humps from at least one side of the vehicle. Speed lumps are typically 12 feet to 14 feet long and three inches high. One of the concerns associated with speed lumps is the potential increased noise in the immediate area where the speed lumps are installed because of braking and accelerating vehicles. It is important that residents immediately adjacent to the speed lumps concur to their installation.
(2) 
Policies on vertical deflection devices:
(a) 
Policy No. 6: Speed lumps and raised crosswalks are the only approved vertical deflection devices to be used.
(b) 
Policy No. 7: Residents fronting the proposed speed lump or raised crosswalk must give their approval prior to installation.
C. 
Diverters, street closures and turn restrictions.
(1) 
Diverters, street closures and turn restrictions are measures that alter the existing transportation circulation system. In developing a solution it is important not to shift the problem to another neighborhood. Turn restrictions and street closures can cause a tremendous amount of traffic diversion over a wide area. These types of measures have impacts that would need to be evaluated in a greater scope than just within a particular neighborhood. The impacts would include the environmental impacts due to changing the transportation circulation system. Many other boroughs have policies that ban or discourage street closures. For these reasons, diverters, closures and turn restrictions are not to be used as traffic calming measures. However, the use of diverters, street closures and turn restrictions may be used outside of this program and should be evaluated as part of a larger area-wide study if their use is to be considered.
(2) 
Policy on diverters and closures:
(a) 
Policy No. 8: Diverters, street closures and turn restrictions shall not be used as part of this program.
D. 
Stop signs.
(1) 
Stop signs are not traffic calming devices. Residents, however, often request stop signs in an effort to calm traffic. Although residents believe that stop signs will reduce vehicle speeds, studies have shown that vehicle speeds after the vehicle has passed through the stop-controlled intersection are as high, and occasionally higher, than without a stop sign, as motorists try to "make up" time lost at the stop sign. The acceleration and deceleration near stop signs generate noise and adversely affect air quality.
(2) 
Inappropriate use of stop signs also creates significant adverse impact to emergency vehicles. Emergency vehicles are required to verify that a stop-controlled intersection is clear of vehicles prior to entering. Many times this means that the emergency vehicle must nearly come to a stop. The delay to an emergency vehicle at a stop sign is similar to that caused by a vertical deflection device.
(3) 
Stop signs are traffic control devices that should be used when appropriate to assign right-of-way to conflicting traffic movements, not to calm traffic. Stop signs should be installed only at locations where conditions meet established criteria, which has been the past practice of the Borough. Studies have shown that stop signs that do not meet established criteria (known as unwarranted stop signs) have a higher violation rate. Unwarranted stop signs also create disrespect of traffic control devices in general and affect behavior at other stop-controlled intersections. It is for these many reasons that unwarranted stop signs are not to be used in this program.
(4) 
Policy on stop signs:
(a) 
Policy No. 9: Unwarranted stop signs shall not be used as a part of this program.
A. 
Many traffic calming devices alter the geometry of the roadway. Poorly designed traffic calming devices could interfere with street sweeping, snow removal and other existing maintenance activities. This could have a negative effect on the appearance of the neighborhood and the residents' quality of life.
B. 
Maintenance policies:
(1) 
Policy No. 10: Traffic calming devices shall be designed to minimize adverse impacts to street sweeping, snow removal and other maintenance activities.
(2) 
Policy No. 11: The development of traffic calming devices should be coordinated with the Borough's Public Works Department.
A. 
General.
(1) 
This program is focused on residential areas since the purpose of the program is to improve quality of life of residents. Only local residential and residential two-lane collector streets will be considered in this program. Arterial streets are specifically excluded from this program because the nature of arterial streets is to move large numbers of vehicles in a relatively free-flowing manner. Actually, non-neighborhood traffic is encouraged to use arterial streets in order to reduce cut-through traffic in the neighborhoods.
(2) 
Diverted traffic must also be considered when evaluating traffic calming measures. In developing a solution for one traffic problem, it is important not to shift the problem to another neighborhood or other residential streets within the neighborhood. Therefore, it is necessary to identify a neighborhood boundary to study the effects of proposed traffic calming devices.
(3) 
Neighborhood participation is important in order to develop a consensus of the issues that adversely affect the neighborhood, evaluate the pros and cons of the various traffic calming measures and ensure that the issues are adequately addressed. It is essential to consider a wide range of perspectives and observations in addition to engineering data. The program is designed so that residents can become actively involved in defining the problem(s) and in the decision-making process in order to have a sense of ownership of the outcome.
(4) 
In addition to neighborhood participation, it is important that the process reflects the opinions of a majority of the residents and not just a few vocal residents. This is implemented through the use of a petition that must be signed by at least 80% of the households within the neighborhood to initiate the traffic calming process. A preliminary neighborhood meeting will be held to discuss the traffic calming program prior to requiring the 80% petition. Another petition is required to implement the proposed traffic calming devices. This second petition is needed in order to be sure there is enough support for approval of an assessment district. This is discussed in more detail under funding.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See § 192-11, Funding.
B. 
Residential focus policies:
(1) 
Policy No. 12: Traffic calming measures will only be considered on local residential and residential two-lane collector streets.
(2) 
Policy No. 13: Traffic calming measures shall not be used on arterial streets or nonresidential streets.
(3) 
Policy No. 14: Minimize diverted traffic to other local or residential collector streets.
(4) 
Policy No. 15: Borough staff will identify neighborhood study areas in order to evaluate the potential of diverted traffic.
(5) 
Policy No. 16: Maintain or improve the aesthetics of the streetscape through landscaping and hardscaping treatments.
(6) 
Policy No. 17: Residents within the neighborhood should be encouraged to participate in the identification of the issues as well as the development of the solution.
(7) 
Policy No. 18: Require a positive response from at least 80% of the households within the identified neighborhood boundary to initiate the traffic calming process and also to approve the permanent installation of traffic calming devices.
A. 
General.
(1) 
The need to prioritize projects arises when the demand for traffic calming exceeds Borough resources. This includes staff time to work on the project as well as construction funding. A common approach used by most other boroughs to efficiently utilize borough resources is to prioritize projects so that the neighborhoods with the greater problems are addressed first. Since most neighborhood traffic problems involve speeding vehicles or a high volume of vehicles relative to the street type, these criteria are weighted heavier in the ranking. Another factor that is considered in defining the extent of the problem is the average annual reported accidents. Also, the impact traffic will have on a neighborhood depends upon the character of the street in the neighborhood and the amount of pedestrian activity within the neighborhood. Streets that have a greater percentage of fronting homes, schools, parks or other public facilities are impacted more than streets that are lined with backing lot treatments. Neighborhoods that have a higher number of pedestrian generators, such as parks, schools and other public facilities, will be impacted greater than those neighborhoods without pedestrian generators. Due to the high concentration of school-aged pedestrians and localized traffic congestion associated with elementary, middle and high schools, these pedestrian generators are weighted double that of other nonschool pedestrian generators. The prioritization criteria are also used to determine how the project should be funded. This is discussed in more detail under funding.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See § 192-11, Funding.
(2) 
In addition to prioritizing projects, it is necessary to provide some minimum criteria that must be met in order for a neighborhood to qualify for traffic calming measures. These minimum criteria ensure that Borough staff and financial resources are used efficiently by not spending resources on streets that do not have a significant traffic problem and to avoid creating unmet expectations by having a long list of projects that may never get built. These minimum criteria are based on vehicle speeds and volumes.
(3) 
For the purposes of the minimum and prioritization criteria, the data collected will be rounded up to the nearest whole number.
B. 
Minimum criteria and prioritization criteria policies:
(1) 
Policy No. 19: The minimum criteria to be used to determine if a street is eligible for traffic calming devices is as follows:
(a) 
Speed: eighty-fifth-percentile speed (critical speed) is at least 30 miles per hour.
(b) 
Volume: average daily traffic is at least two times the number of households in the study area.
(2) 
Policy No. 20: The prioritization scoring criteria allows 20 maximum points and is as follows:
(a) 
Speed:
85th Percentile Speed
(Critical Speed)
(miles per hour)
Points
31
2
32
4
33
6
34
8
35 or more
10 maximum
(b) 
Accident history: one point per accident susceptible to correction by traffic calming device, using the average annual accidents over past three years (five points maximum).
(c) 
Fronting uses (including homes, schools, parks and public facilities):
Percentage of the Street
that has Fronting Uses
Points
10% or less
1
11% to 25%
2
26% to 50%
3
51% to 75%
4
75% to 100%
5 maximum
(d) 
Pedestrian generators (such as parks, schools, public facilities, not including homes):[2]
Number of Pedestrian Generators
within Neighborhood Boundary
Points
1
1
2
2
3
3
4
4
5 or more
5 maximum
[2]
Note: Elementary, middle and high schools will be weighted double points in this category.
A. 
Administration costs. Administration costs include staff time to collect and analyze data, prioritize requests, conduct neighborhood meetings and design the traffic calming devices. These costs would be covered under normal operating budgets using existing staff.
B. 
Capital financing. The construction costs of traffic calming devices will be budgeted annually as part of the Capital Improvement Fund. The issue of traffic calming removal should not be dismissed as minor. Some agencies that have had traffic calming programs for several decades have now implemented traffic calming removal programs. The Borough can stretch its budget to cover more projects to more neighborhoods.
C. 
Operations and maintenance financing. The Borough will be responsible for the operations and maintenance costs associated with the traffic calming device.
D. 
Funding policies:
(1) 
Policy No. 21: The Borough shall budget an allocation each year to the Capital Improvement Fund for the implementation costs associated with a traffic calming device.
(2) 
Policy No. 22: The Borough shall be responsible for all associated maintenance costs.
A. 
Although there are many policies and steps incorporated in the program to avoid the scenario whereby a neighborhood requests to have traffic calming devices removed, it is acknowledged that this may occur. In order for traffic calming devices to be removed from a neighborhood, the same process of neighborhood meetings and consensus requirements should be met. A neighborhood meeting would be held to discuss the issues and the impacts of traffic calming removal. A petition to garner sixty-percent approval would need to be circulated within the original neighborhood boundary that installed the traffic calming device initially. The costs of removing traffic calming devices would be paid 100% by the Borough.
B. 
Removal policies:
(1) 
Policy No. 23: Require a positive response from at least 60% of the households within the original neighborhood boundary to remove traffic calming device.
(2) 
Policy No. 24: The Borough shall be responsible for all costs associated with the removal of any traffic calming device.