What Do You Think of the Traffic Calming Plan on Stewart Campbell Pointe?

Stewart Campbell Pt chicanes

A new traffic design on Stewart Campbell Pointe Road in Spring Hill, aimed at reducing speeding, has some residents confused and upset.

On Stewart Campbell Pointe Road between New Port Royal Road and Jutes Drive, drivers have probably noticed concrete “bulb outs” (technically called chicanes) and a new striping pattern.

This “is designed to get the driver’s attention and have the driver purposefully alter the vehicle’s course in order to negotiate the pattern appropriately,” reads a press release from the City of Spring Hill.

stewart campbell pointe

Why Chicanes?

As the City of Spring Hill expressed in a press release, speeding has been an ongoing problem on this section of Stewart Campbell Point due to its connection into the Brixworth subdivision and access to Buckner Lane.

Neighbors and HOA representatives contacted the City requesting police enforcement to reduce the speeding. Despite police issuing several tickets, speeding continued. The next step was a Neighborhood Traffic Calming Study, which verified the community’s speeding concerns.

RADAR boards were placed in the hopes that it would remind drivers to slow down.

“Often times we’ve found that distracted drivers simply aren’t aware how fast they are going and the feedback will cause them to slow down. The RADAR board had some effect but not enough, which meant the drivers were ignoring the feedback and then speeding on purpose,” the City of Spring Hill says.

Speed bumps were requested by the HOA, but the City states this road is a primary route for fire trucks, so speed bumps are not a preferred solution.

Therefore, chicanes were recommended by city staff.

“The Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) recommended that BOMA fund a design and implementation plan. An engineering firm specializing in traffic engineering was selected and developed the new design, taking into consideration all the limiting factors, such as driveway spacing, appropriate separation of on-coming traffic, and sight distance (near Jutes Drive). That design was approved by the TAC and was presented to the HOA for commentary and feedback.”

Repaving was already on the docket for Stewart Campbell Point; therefore, chicanes were simply added at a cost of approximately $8,000. The City states it is already collecting traffic data to determine if the chicanes are having the intended impact and effect.

“We are collecting data to help us understand what’s happening in the corridor. This information will guide our decisions in the future,” said Victor Lay Spring Hill City Administrator.

What are your thoughts on the chicanes? 

Many locals have expressed their thoughts via social media. Some think it’s a nice solution to calm traffic, others say it isn’t effective.

Citizen Comments:

“The cities own traffic collection data has shown that these concrete islands have not stopped the high speed violations that occurring everyday on this residential street.

The residents that live on Stewart Campbell Pt are not asking the city for extravagant favors or special treatment. We simply want our road safe for the many people that live, walk, and ride their bikes on Stewart Campbell Pt.

Mayor Graham, Victor Lay, KCI Technologies, and BOMA are all responsible for this disaster and need to make it a top priority to fix this complete failure and stop using our neighborhood road as a laboratory for traffic studies.” – Dave B

“As a resident on the street I can support the fact that most of us wanted something done about our problem with speeders. Although it’s quite early I believe we’ve seen an improvement and I will be interested to hear some data from the city in a few weeks.” – Nanci G

“This will not solve any problem as you don’t have to do anything to get around them. This was a waste of money, and the person suggesting it should reimburse the city themselves. Sidewalks on both sides of the street would have been a better option of spending as many people still walk the street.” – Chris R

” I observed most cars can drive straight thru without slowing down or altering their course of direction.” – Thomas C

“I think it’s silly, but……..Maybe I was being overly cautious, but Fri evening going down that street, I did slow down w/o realizing it.” – Blakely D

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