Residential Traffic-Calming Program

We all know that speeding on local streets adversely affects the quality of life in our neighborhoods. In 2007, the first year of the competition for the City’s new traffic-calming program, one of our District 6 neighborhoods was selected as the first of two neighborhoods in our City to participate. It is the area sometimes called Huguenot Lake, which is located “behind” New Rochelle High School, and includes Clove Road, Parcot, Otsego and Flandreau Avenues, and Argyll Avenue. The neighborhood’s application to participate ranked highest on the application criteria evaluated by our independent traffic consultants. By the time of this writing, the consultant has met with neighborhood representatives, designed proposed modifications to the streets, met with a large group of neighborhood residents to review the proposal, and prepared further proposed changes based on the neighbors’ responses. The changes proposed include a raised intersection, speed humps, and extended sidewalks at corners to protect pedestrians and narrow turns at intersections. If supported by 80% of the residents of the area, the trafficcalming measures will be installed later this year. I supported the inclusion of funding for two more trafficcalming projects in the City’s 2008 budget, and I plan to support continuing funding for this program in future years. Some of the criteria for selection include that the roadways be residential, local (not collector or arterial) streets and not emergency response routes, with average daily traffic of more than 500 but less than 3,500 vehicles, and that the proposed changes not divert traffic to other streets. If your neighborhood would like to apply for a traffic-calming program in your area, please contact the City’s Traffic Engineer, Michael Briska, at 654-2135, or at Mbriska@newrochelleny.com for information and application materials.