Neighborhood Traffic Calming
The Public Works Department is continuously working with residents seeking to slow local traffic while creating a safe and livable community. Traffic calming, a strategy commonly used by city governments, employs street design elements to reduce cut-through traffic and vehicle speeds, and promote pedestrian safety while balancing the transportation and access needs of the community.
After an investigation into the roadway characteristics (including data collection, crash history, etc.), the City may choose to move forward with street improvements. Some typical low-cost devices and strategies used on Mercer Island and other local cities are listed below:
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Portable Radar Speed Trailers
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Pavement Markings (painted striping or raised pavement markers)
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Signage (Speed limits)
Note: Traffic studies have shown that “Children at Play” signs do not increase a driver’s attention to the point of reducing vehicles speeds or reducing pedestrian accidents. Placement of these signs can sometimes increase the potential for accidents by conveying to children and parents a sense of a protected area, which does not exist and cannot be guaranteed. For these reasons, the City does not install these types of signs, and instead encourages parents to find alternative play areas for children, such as backyard or local parks. |
More permanent traffic calming measures require outreach and strong neighborhood support, as well as roadway characteristics that provide the minimum required conditions to warrant installation (such as traffic volume, pavement width, street length, 85th-percentile speeds, crash history, etc.). Depending on the cost of the improvement, the project may need to be approved by the City Council through adoption into the six-year Transportation Improvement Program (TIP).
Contact publicworks@mercerisland.gov if you have questions about the City’s traffic calming strategy.
