A Kick In The Pants

Hoping to give speeders on side streets a kick in the pants, the Board of Selectmen this week decided to create a committee to study the possible installation of “traffic calming” devices (speed bumps or speed humps depending on the desired severity of the kick) on some local streets.

The group is likely to focus first on Queen Street, which combines a commercial area and a school zone with a residential street. Queen Street residents have long complained about the use of their street both as an alternate route to Main Street between Church Hill Road to Mile Hill Road and as a drag strip by those in a hurry.

Resorting to speed bumps on Queen Street, and possibly other residential streets, is an acknowledgement by the Newtown Police Department that the speeding problem there is beyond its control. The occasional manned patrol car using radar and the automatic speed warning sign that frequently appears on Queen Street have not stopped the problem. The street’s parallel access to Mile Hill Road from Church Hill Road is the preferred route for drivers wishing to avoid the congested intersections at those two roads on Main Street. In pressing the advantage of the “shortcut” (it’s really about the same distance) too many motorists apply Main Street’s speed limit of 40 mph to Queen Street, which has a posted limit of 25 mph.

On the surface, it does not seem to make sense to maintain smooth road surfaces at great taxpayer expense, only to install bumps at even more taxpayer expense. Why not just leave the potholes and save the Highway Department time and money?

The truth is that bumps in the road do slow cars down and induce motorists to use other roads. The City of Portland, Oregon, studied the effectiveness of its traffic calming bumps in 1998 and found that they were very effective in slowing traffic to the posted speed limits. On streets posted 25 mph, 14-foot-wide speed bumps cut the number of speeders from 60 percent to 20 percent. Traffic volume on those streets was reduced by 33 percent.

This may sound like a dream come true for Queen Street residents, but the plan may also yield unexpected problems. Portland also found, for example, that there was an increase in traffic noise as vehicles, especially trucks and buses, braked and accelerated between bumps. Residents and businesses in the area can also expect slower response times from Newtown’s police, fire, and ambulance services both on Queen Street and Main Street where there will be even more congestion.

We urge the Board of Selectmen, Police Commission, and other agencies involved in this decision to be careful and sparing in relying on speed bumps for traffic control. Speeding motorists on residential streets pose hazards all over town. If Queen Street gets speed bumps, how long will it be before the residents of Elm Drive, Currituck Road, and Hanover Road are asking for them with equal justification?

Enforcement of local speed limits needs to be strict, consistent, and widespread, and not just in reaction to complaints from various neighborhoods. Portland reports that its speed bumps cost between $1,500 and $2,000 each. Perhaps before Newtown heads down the long bumpy road of covering the town with “traffic calming” devices, it should invest some of that money in additional police traffic patrols and radar enforcement of speed limits. We have to remember there is more than one way to kick a speeder in the pants.