By Brian CHERNICK

Glendale streets are expected to see more speed humps in the near future after Glendale City Council voted to reduce requirements for their installation.

Revisions to the city’s Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program aims to improve safety around schools and parks by reducing the required percentage of community consensus, allowing the installation of speed humps on one-way streets and reducing traffic volume and vehicle speeds currently required to get approval for implementation.

The self-enforcing traffic tool was highly regarded by council and staff during the meeting for its effectiveness and cost. Most of the changes will only affect streets within school and park zones where children are most often found crossing the street. The allowance of speed humps on one-way streets with two lanes will be issued citywide.

Prior to these changes, in order for a street to qualify its volume of traffic would have to be greater than 1,000 vehicles a day. These changes will reduce the threshold to 500.

Staff and council, particularly councilmember Ara Najarian, recognized the issue with speed humps in regards to the potential to shift traffic patterns – or traffic diversion – where drivers aware of the speed humps will begin changing their routes to avoid them, but argued the benefits outweigh the costs.

The NTCP was established in 1996 in an effort to improve livability in residential neighborhoods by mitigating vehicular traffic. According to staff speed humps have been the most requested traffic calming measures.

  Brian CHERNICK