At Tuesday’s meeting, the Leon County Board of County Commissioners approved implementing a new traffic calming policy. The policy aims to address traffic and speeding issues in Northeast Tallahassee and along Deer Lake Road.
“Traffic calming helps to encourage healthy environments for motorcyclists, bicyclists and pedestrians by rendering suburban neighborhood traffic flows more consistent with residential lifestyles,” staff reports. “Speeding traffic and reckless driving are not conducive to sports such as playing in yards for youth, riding street bikes or evening walks for families.”
Efforts to calm traffic could include speed tables and humps, pavement signs, elevated intersections and more.
Leon County has had a traffic calming program since 1998 and has since seen a rise in concern for safety in residential areas. Staff reports that congestion on urban streets “pushes drivers to seek new and faster routes to their destination, and these new routes were leading through residential neighborhoods.”
Staff reports that there has been a rise in demands for calming roads that are known as minor collector roadways — shorter roadways with lower traffic and fewer through trips, such as Deer Lake Road.
The meeting agenda outlines minimum requirements for roads to be included in the new traffic calming program:
• Vehicle trips per day must be at least 150 for local roads and 3,500 for minor collector roads
• 85th percentile speed must be at least 5 mph over the posted speed limit for local roads and 10 mph for minor collector roads
• Qualifying roads must have only two lanes – one lane in each direction
• Posted speed limit of less than 35 mph
• Minimum road length of a quarter of mile (1,320 feet)
• Abutting properties must be located in a residential neighborhood
• At least 75% of the property owners abutting the affected roadway(s) must sign a petition requesting the placement of traffic calming features for local roads. For minor collector roads, 75% of the property owners abutting the affected roadway(s) must sign the petition or the HOA may file a petition when there are no existing driveways connected to the road segment subject to traffic calming.
• If a Homeowner’s Association (HOA) for the area is active, the HOA must provide a letter of endorsement for traffic calming features to be installed.
There will also be prioritization criteria for roads in the program. Funding for the program is included in the annual Capital Improvement Program Budget.
County Commissioners Approve New Traffic Calming Policy added by Rachel Daniels on
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I presently live on Callen Street and I do not believe we need traffic calming. This is being sought as an act of aggression because one neighbor is very vindictive. Not all homeowers are aware and then some renters signed the petition and not the homeowner. I am home during the day and we do not have 150 cars come down our street unless something fishy occurred to meet this criteria. I am most sure we do not. I want this thoroughly researched. I have yet to receive value.
I left home for a couple of hours and when I returned there was a damaged tire left on the side of the road to the left of my house. I am 92 and my wife and I can’t dispose of the abandoned damaged tire. Can you have someone come and dispose of it? We are not a dumping ground.
We need speed calming on Barineau Road. We have had many of our pets killed due to cars going 50 to 70 mi an hour on our street. We have a lot of elderly people living on our Road and it is dangerous for them to back out of their driveway. We have a lot of work trucks including dump trucks traveling our street. They could easily travel down Geddie Road instead of Barineau. Geddie doesn’t have a lot of homes and it seems it would detract some of the traffic off of Barineau. We also have a problem of people traveling thru throwing trash out. We pick up trash several times a week and there is always litter. We were picking up trash on the side of the road and a white sports car came flying down the road and seemed to deliberately throw out trash right across from us. I am sick of this mentality. These people need to do community service . We have a sign about throwing trash but it is so small you have to stop your car to read it even if these people cared about the beauty of our streets in Tallahassee. Apparently they were not taught when they were growing up, thank you in advance fir helping us.
We need speed humps on Velda Dairy Road. Enforcement is done on a regular basis but it does no good. Nicole – deputies do their jobs, when the deputy is gone the speeding continues!! Folks think the laws don’t apply to them. How about a VERY stiff fine for speeding?
NO SPEEED BUMPS ON DEER LAKE, PLEASE!!! ?
If speed bumps are the solution, I guess that means they are also needed on Thomasville Road, Capital Circle. And why stop there, Merdian and I10 are going to need several as well. Sound a little ridiculous? We just need enforcement. Look around, my street has no less than 4 tallahassee finest living here so its not like they have to go out of their way.
On behalf of those of us who don’t drive a SUV with higher ground clearance, I say NO to speed bumps and YES to law enforcement please.
Please put speed humps on Deerlake and Kenhegia. Drivers consistently drive down these roads at 45 to 55 mph. Let’s prevent more needless deaths.
Just return to the old days where communities took care of the problem themselves. My dad stopped a kid who constantly sped down our road by simply tossing a hammer through his windshield… no one hurt, just a costly replacement for the idiot speeder… problem solved, no more speeding. Then he took a motorcycle speeder off his bike with a simply swing of a rake. just a little road rash and costly repair for the idiot speeder… problem solved, no more speeding.
Stop expecting government and politicians to solve your community’s problem… solve them yourselves… that’s why you’re called a community.
We live next to Deerlake East on Horseshoe Trl.in KLP. Drivers come down a hill with a curve in the hill headed in both directions. This is stretch of Deerlake between Golden Eagle service entrance and KLP Elementary school. There is a school bus stop on this same stretch at Blue Quill street. I have tried for 10 years to get Leon Country and our former County Commissioner to place a permanently affixed speeding sign that would flash the speed the driver is going to alert drivers that they’re coming down these 2 hills with many going 45-50 miles per hour. They can’t hold their vehicles in their lane when making the curve and have to move over to straddle the center line to avoid going off the road. Two cars have gone off into the lake not being able to make the curve. Multiple hits that have torn down big brick columns marking the entrance to Deerfield Plantation have occurred. Then a huge steel railing was put in place to stop cars from going into the lake. Keep in mind there is a pedestrian sidewalk centered right next to the steel railing and another metal rail looking over a steep hill looking directly into the lake. Imagine a baby stroller, biker or walker being next to that steel railing having a car striking it and have no place to go but to try to jump in the lake to avoid the car. This is just feet from where the young girl was recently struck by the hit and run truck that caused her grave harm. I would say to the county employee that would be assigned to me each time I would contact them for help—“I suppose we have to wait until someone is killed or badly hurt for this stretch of road to get the attention it needs”. I always heard we will get back to you but I would never hear back. Another incident would happen and I would call again but I never got anything but lip service—no action. Now this young lady being struck has brought attention to the matter but it too could die without attention to this area of road.
Please add speed bumps where needed. We need them on lookout trail and Lord Murphy trail. We are a constant cut thru.
I live on Hunters Ridge Trail and in the middle of November of 2020 at 1:00 am a 20 year old girl probably intoxicated ran into my house driving over the mailbox, fence, new landscape and then hit my husband’s new Town and Country van pushing the van inside my home destroying the wall, bathroom etc. she fled the scene, I am sure she was howling butt. My house is about 150 feet from the street so imagine how fast she must have been driving! This ruined our Holiday plans due to the mess we had in our house, our home is still a mess and dealing with the Insurance Company is aggravating.
I think that the speed bumps could be annoying but that might be the solution for people to slow down while driving on Deer Lake and avoiding killing or hurting someone.
On behalf of the Wheel Alignment Workers Association (WAWA!), we highly recommend speed bumps every five feet for 1,320 feet. Then we recommend 1,320 feet of pot holes to be followed by a repeat 1,320 feet of speed bumps.
Speed humps do not “calm” anything. They are simply a nuisance and an eyesore. If anything, they increase driver frustration and distraction, thus actually making them a dangerous hazard. With installation and required maintenance in-perpetuity, the whole plan is just a campaign contributors payoff is all.
We have laws on the books and law enforcement… do your damn jobs.
Not in favor of speed bumps on Deer Lake Road.
Simply enforce the speed limit.
Are you out your damned minds?
I vote yes to calming speed bumps. I suggest to all of you who voted no that if it were your daughter or grand daughter who was hit while walking in the grass and spend 2 weeks in a coma and 2 months in hospital you would feel differently!
NO SPEED HUMPS!!! A lot of the traffic on Deer Lake is only there because Bannerman is so overcrowded. If the county would get on with 4-laning Bannerman, the problem would be minimized, because the commuter traffic would go there, where it belongs.
Speed bumps on a street with no houses or dirveways is uncalled for. More enforcement would be a better plan.
I see several things in the minimum requirements that are not met by Deer Lake. With a speed limit of 30 miles an hour “traffic calming devices” make no sense. On Chadwick the speed limit is 30 slowing to 20 at each hump. There is not enough room between each hump to make sense to get to 30, but I have seen people hit those hump faster than 30. I value my cars suspension too much, I go 20 all the way. People are going to speed and we are going to have accidents. The curbing on the sidewalks sounds like the best safety measure to me. There are other infrastructure issues that need more attention and money.
Well, I guess I’ll have to start getting up at least 30 minutes earlier just to drive down Deerlake… I am not going to ruin my car by driving over speed bumps. Keep thinking, there’s got to be a better solution…
NO SPEEDBUMPS on Deer Lake Road.
People who say “few people speed” on Deerlake have obviously never walked the sidewalks. I would say 80% of the vehicles driving between Killearn Lakes Elementary and Bluequill Drive are going 5 miles or more over the speedlimit. Nothing scarier then a delivery vehicle coming towards you around a curve going 55 in a 30. It happens daily.
I vote no speedbumps on Deer Lake Rd
Deer Lake Road does not have any residents fronting on the road. Putting in speed bumps to punish the sins of the few is punishing the masses who are not breaking the law. My vote is NO it is a waste of time and money.
I think speed humps is a waste of time, money and a liability. Deer Lake is to long of a road for humps and that road does not have any residential housing driveways that front on it. I would rather see more effort put into Deer Lake Middle school parking and traffic control. I think if a traffic study was done the speed limit should actually be increased a little because of the population growth, not for the few carless drivers but for the commonwealth of the community. Here is an example of more control and punishing all the drivers for the reckless few. Most citizens in our community do what they are suppose to. Get to the root of the problem, the offenders. I think it is disturbing that the little girl was hit by someone and she is still recovering. I still pray for her. I hope the careless/reckless person is found and dealt with. Do you really think or believe a speed hump would have changed any thing if their not even honest enough to turn their self in. I have seen a lot in the past 35 years and speed humps on Deer Lake would be a disaster and a deterrent for property owners. There are other parts of our neighborhood that need a lot more attention. The roundabout, population and business growth which includes the current infrastructure that’s where time and effort should be put into. We could even readdress Killearn Lakes Plantation Security, if we have the need to spend money. So my vote would be NO. What about building sidewalks for walkers on the back side of Deerlake why did it stop at Chadwick? Maybe we should discuss why stop signs are just a suggestion when entering Deerlake a speed hump won’t fix that.
Putting speed humps on Deerlake road is as worthless as an Eskimo buying ice. I couldn’t think of any more worthless fun the teens will have than to race their cars over the humps, or better yet, their parent’s car.
If they put speed humps on Deer Lake, I will sell my house and move. I am not going to drive a round trip the full length of Deer Lake road every day over dozens of speed bumps every day. No way will I settle for that.
For Dennis Barton: I live on Pisgah Church Rd. which has a speed limit of 25 mph. I cannot begin to tell you how many cars and trucks go by doing at least 35-40, a few even faster! I wish the county would put speed bumps on this road!
I vote NO SPEED HUMPS !!
Something MUST be done bc most humans don’t want to obey the speed limits…plain fact. I don’t oppose the speed humps but I’d rather see them installed in actually housing areas, such as Folkstone Road, where children and walkers use this road a lot. How is it the entrance to Summerbrook Housing (from Bannerman) has had humps before Killearn Lakes? As for law enforcement, I’d rather they be out apprehending really bad ppl.
I walk Deerlake everyday. Wreakless drivers are a common place and more often then not someone will fly by going 20 or more over the speedlimit. It’s negligent that we don’t already have speed bumps in place. A little girl is lucky to be alive after soul ess creature left her on the side of the road to die a few weeks back. I’ve had enough.
We need speed humps!!
Sheriff’s department refuses to run radar out here because they’re scared of whose kid they might pull over. That’s a quote from someone high up in the department.
Ridiculous waste of taxpayers money that could be put to much better use. Can’t remember the last time I saw a deputy out here. How about using existing resources? I vote NO!
Well, if the deputies actually did their jobs and were present on Deer Lake road a lot would be solved too!
Here’s a thought…if the speed limit is 25 MPH enforce the speed limit but don’t put “calming” devices on the roads for folks who already calm.
DONT PUT ANY STUPID SPEED BUMPS ON DEER LAKE ROAD!