Residents Can Petition For Traffic Calming Measures In Their Neighborhoods

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — Officials have unveiled a new neighborhood traffic calming policy designed to reduce speeding and encourage safety on county roads.

Under the updated policy, the county will use various traffic calming measures to reduce vehicle speed in certain areas.

"Neighborhood traffic calming is an important part of our efforts to ensure greater safety and accessibility on residential roadways across our community. Through this updated policy, Howard County is taking another major step forward to promote greater safety, slower speeds and a truly multimodal vision in our neighborhoods. This builds upon our historic investments in Complete Streets infrastructure to make our streets accessible to all," said Howard County Executive Calvin Ball.

Traffic calming measures can include speed humps, raised intersections, roundabouts, signing, rumble strips, roadway striping and other tools designed to prevent speeding on county roads. Under the updated traffic calming policy, residents and neighborhood organizations can submit an application for an initial evaluation of traffic. Factors such as traffic volume, speed, crash history, street characteristics and proximity to community destinations will be used to score a roadway’s eligibility for traffic calming.

“Howard County’s traffic calming policy is a product of continued engagement with the community and our commitment to roadway safety. Our subject matter experts will continue to listen to residents’ concerns and apply the policy to bring about the desired results,” said Yosef Kebede, director, Howard County Department of Public Works.

Locations must meet a minimum score to qualify for traffic calming measures. Qualifying applications will be analyzed by DPW for different traffic calming solutions. During this process, DPW will engage with community members through public meetings to discuss proposals and garner community support for transportation improvements. Traffic calming applications will be prioritized based on their score and the availability of funding in the county’s capital budget.

The new neighborhood traffic calming policy and application can be found here.