Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 4 · column 1 of 3 · from the scan, no model involved
Traffic Calming
It is too .bad more people did not attend the presentation on traffic calming at the high school last Thursday.
Ian Lockwood of J.P. Brasksma and Associates, a Canadian engineering firm, presented a number of interesting concepts for alternatives to wider, faster roads and bypasses. Mr. Lockwood was in Virginia working for a coalition trying to avoid bypasses on the U.S. 50 corridor in Loudoun County.
Traffic calming consists of a variety of means to slow traffic down other than posting lower speed limits. Both vertical and horizontal obstacles are erected, and drivers must slow down to negotiate these obstacles. Speed humps, both rounded and flat are vertical obstacles. Traffic circles and islands, chicanes and other traffic pinching measures are horizontal obstacles.
The idea is both to slow down cars and trucks and to make the streets more inviting for pedestrians and bicyclists while making , stops at local businesses convenient for both drivers and pedestrians.
Attractive greenery planted along the streets make them more inviting to residents and visitors. , It will be interesting to follow how this proposal works out in 1 Loudoun County. VDOT is likely to be very resistant to any such •proposals.
This tact is completely counter to the usual thinking among ! highway planners, who believe in doing everything possible to > speed cars along their way and also believe any obstacle is likely to ;be a safety hazard. Traffic calming proponents claim that on the contrary these measures reduce traffic accidents. » If the Loudoun group succeeds in getting VDOT to accept traffic palming along the U.S. 50 corridor, then certainly Rappahannock ^County planners can try for similar action for the U.S. 522 corridor through the county. ' In the meantime the Town of Washington is ripe for such a pro■posal now. There is no major highway coming through town, but '•residents still perceive that drivers speed through town. Sheriff Gary Settle said his department is trying to respond to requests from [every village in the county for more enforcement of speed limits, 'but he lacks the manpower to satisfy everyone. » Traffic calming measures enforce lower speeds without the need 3for police constantly writing tickets. These measures also create jnore attractive village spaces. * VDOT is planning to resurface the streets in Washington as soon 4as work on extending the town water lines is completed. The new ^smooth asphalt is likely to lead to increased speeds. The Town Council ^should take a close look at traffic calming measures as a means of ■responding to the concerns of residents and businesses in town.
Then if traffic calming is accepted in Loudoun County for the TJ.S. 50 corridor residents of the villages along U.S. 522 will have before tham an example of what such a proposal could do for Flint Hill, Sperryville or Woodville.
95.9%