Driving through parts of Port Moody is about to get bumpier.
The city hopes that will slow motorists down.
On Tuesday (March 22), council approved spending up to $40,000 for a pilot program to place speed humps on two of four streets identified as high priority for traffic calming measures.
In a report, Port Moody’s general manager of engineering and operations, Jeff Moi, said the asphalt humps would be an interim “rapid-response” measure to slow cars until more comprehensive plans to calm traffic can be developed, refined through a trial period and permanently installed.
They're also cheap to construct and require minimal design and consultation work.
"Speed humps have relatively limited impacts on neighbouring properties, mobility, road drainage or access," Moi said.
He added they could also have “a significant impact on the number of outstanding traffic calming requests and help make traffic and livability improvements much sooner on neighbourhoods that would otherwise wait many years to begin a traffic calming initiative.”
The four roads identified as potential candidates for the speed hump program are:
- a 375-metre stretch of Angela Drive (three humps)
- a 570-metre stretch of Klahanie Drive (four humps)
- a 370-metre stretch of Henry Street, from Williams to Buller (three humps)
- a 370-metre stretch of College Park Way, from Glenayre to Cecile (three humps)
Moi estimated it costs about $5,500 to install an asphalt speed hump, including complementary signs and pavement markings.
The pilot project would be monitored and, if it proves effective, it could become an annual program.
Last October, Port Moody’s transportation committee identified seven candidates for traffic calming initiatives in the city based upon neighbourhood requests, traffic volumes, and the average speeds of vehicles going over the posted speed limit; another two have yet to be evaluated.
An additional three streets — Moray, St. George and Spring — are already part of a traffic calming study or pilot project, while five more didn’t meet the criteria for slowing vehicles.
