Traffic Calming in Ashford Park Moves to Next Phase

A group of Caldwell Road residents in Ashford Park voted Tuesday night to move forward with a plan to install traffic calming devices along a stretch of road plagued with speeding cars.

The plan calls for the installation of 12 speed tables  and three islands as a way to slow vehicles that residents say travel too fast down the residential road.

According to the engineering plans, the traffic calming district would include 94 affected parcels of land on four roads: Caldwell Road, Arden Place Drive, Ashford Park Court, Redding Road and Ashford Road. Residents said that much of the traffic comes from nearby apartment complex or drivers who live outside of the community.

Noel McCullough, a Caldwell Road resident who started the process of the traffic calming discussions, said she is pleased with the progress.

"It's nice to know that something is being done about this," McCullough said, who has two small children. She said the potential noise anticipated from cars traveling over the speed humps is a small sacrifice for the safety of neighborhood children.

The next step is to submit the plan to the DeKalb County Commissioners for approval of the process. Once the preliminary plan is approved, resdients will have 90 days to get 65 percent of the property owners of the parcels in the affected area to vote for approval of traffic calming measures.

If 65 percent approval is attained, the construction will be scheduled through the Roads and Drainage Division of Public Works.

DeKalb County Public Works Department outlines the traffic calming process in detail.