Friday, June 3, 2022 - Cleveland, OH – Today, the City of Cleveland in collaboration with Cleveland City Council announced the launch of a neighborhood speed table pilot program for traffic calming measures across the city. The goals of the program are to increase the quality of life for residents by creating safer streets; to reduce the chance of serious injury or death if a crash does happen; to expand local experience with street design interventions that reinforce lower speeds in residential areas; and to inform citywide traffic calming programs and guidance in alignment with the City’s Vision Zero initiative (www.VisionZeroCLE.org).
“Excessive vehicle speeding has become an issue in the city and most recently caused the death of two children,” stated Mayor Justin M. Bibb. “We need to take immediate action to help calm traffic and enforce lower speeds in our residential areas.”
The neighborhood speed table pilot program targets local, primarily residential streets with medium traffic volumes and documented speeding issues. Eligibility is determined by:
- Average daily traffic: 1,000 to 4,000 vehicles
- Average speeds: at or above the posted speed limit (25 mph)
- 85th percentile speeds: 6+ mph than the posted speed limit (≥31 mph)
“Recent Vision Zero analyses show that almost half of traffic-related deaths in Cleveland from 2016 to 2020 involved speeding. Our streets should be safe for everyone using them, and speed tables are one example of a street design intervention that forces drivers to slow down,” said Calley Mersmann, senior strategist for transit and mobility.
Additional prioritization factors may include documented crash history and presence of schools, parks, or other bicyclist/pedestrian demand generators.
The streets included in this pilot program are:
- Judson Drive (East 160th Street to Lee Road)
- Dickens Avenue (East of Larry Doby Way)
- East 147th Street (South of Bartlett Avenue)
- West 101st Street (Marginal Road to Madison Avenue)
- West 56th Street (Denison Avenue to Storer Avenue)
- Edgewater Drive (West of West 115th Street)
- East 174th Street (Ozark Avenue to Nottingham Road)
- Corlett Avenue (East of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive)
- West 50th Street (Kouba Avenue to Clark Avenue)
- Bohn Road (East 40th to Kennard Road)
“It is critical that we continue to move legislation forward that addresses excessive speeding and reckless driving through our residential neighborhoods,” stated Councilman Kerry McCormack. “These safety measures are part of a larger initiative to slow drivers down and protect our residents.”
The pilot program will document the impact of the speed tables on vehicle speeds; address any service delivery challenges experienced by public safety, public works or Greater Cleveland RTA; and collect resident feedback to inform a citywide approach. The City will collect initial pilot evaluation data in mid-September, and plans to leave the speed tables in place for the winter to assess impacts on snow removal. During the pilot, the City will continue to gather speed data on additional residential streets to inform the next round of the program. Installation of the speed tables is expected to begin in mid-July, depending on delivery schedules and the supply chain for needed materials.
As an additional part of the City’s traffic calming strategy, the Cleveland Division of Police will be purchasing ten radar speed feedback signs that will be rotated to different locations monthly. These signs display the speeds of passing vehicles, and flash when drivers are above the speed limit to raise awareness. The City will also measure the effectiveness of this treatment on driver speeds.
Interested residents are encouraged to visit www.clevelandohio.gov/TrafficCalming or call 216-664-7182 for more information about the program.
