Cobb County is cracking down on speed demons tearing through residential streets after residents voiced their outrage over unsafe driving conditions. According to a report by FOX 5 Atlanta, the Cobb County Department of Transportation has updated its traffic-calming policy to include more options, such as raised crosswalks, intersections, and speed cushions, to combat the speeding issue that plagues local streets.
"They just fly down here, and turn around like it's a racing track down here," Cobb County resident Sebastian Quiroga told FOX 5 Atlanta, expressing the sentiment of many in the area. To address these concerns, the new policy introduced by the Cobb Department of Transportation adds tools to the traffic-calming arsenal, now allowing neighborhoods to request features like roundabouts and chicanes to slow down traffic. Previously, communities could only opt for speed humps or large speed display signs.
The department has also fine-tuned its approach to setting speed limits. The benchmark for action has been lowered, now focusing on the speed at which 85% of traffic is actually traveling. "For neighborhood streets that are typically 25 miles an hour, that threshold was dropped to 32 miles an hour," Cobb County Department of Transportation Director Drew Raessler explained to FOX 5 Atlanta.
Before any traffic calming measures are implemented, there's a process in place: Cobb Department of Transportation evaluates reported areas for speeding issues, then suggests the most effective solutions. Should more than 65% of residents agree to the proposal, it's then passed up to the board of commissioners for approval, and funding, which was detailed in both reports from FOX 5 Atlanta, and AllSides. Raessler emphasized the link between slower speeds and safer neighborhoods, saying, "Speed is one of the biggest indicators of how severe a crash would be, so anything we can do to force lower speeds we think makes neighborhoods more livable and our streets safer."
The community's push for change has gained official backing, mitigating the risk for the area's most vulnerable. "Accidents happen in less than a second, so people should be aware. Slow down," Quiroga, the one of the concerned residents, warned in his interview with FOX 5 Atlanta. With officials and community members on the same page, the streets of Cobb County may soon become quieter, and most importantly, safer.
