Traffic Calming

Traffic Calming Measures for Local Residential Roads

Traffic calming measures are strategies designed to reduce speeding on residential roads through a combination of education, enforcement, and engineering efforts. This process is only considered on local residential streets with a posted speed limits of 25 miles per hour (mph) and requires a commitment from the impacted neighborhood and residents.

Traffic Calming Process

Step 1: Neighborhood residents may contact Transportation Staff and request a review of the roads for eligibility. The neighborhood roads MUST meet 3 basic eligibility requirements:

1. Street is maintained by VDOT
2. Street is within a neighborhood setting where houses front the street
3. Street has a posted speed limit of 25 mph or less

Step 2: The Homeowners Association (HOA) for the neighborhood requests a traffic calming review be initiated. This MUST be in the form of a letter from the HOA and signed by an officer of the HOA. For neighborhoods with no HOA, a letter can be submitted with signatures from a minimum of 10 neighborhood residents (or 10% of residents for those neighborhoods with less than 10 homes).

Step 3: An Engineering review is completed by Transportation Staff to review roadway characteristics and traffic speed/volume. The following requirements MUST be met in order to proceed with the request:

1. Operating speed (85th percentile of data collected) of the street MUST be at least 10 mph over the posted speed limit
2. Traffic volume MUST be between 600 and 4,000 vehicles per day.

Step 4: VDOT and the Locality coordinate on a conceptual Traffic Calming Plan describing any traffic calming measures that may be installed on the neighborhood street. The Traffic Calming Plan mut also be reviewed and approved by each affected property owner of a residence where the physical location of a proposed traffic calming device will be along their property frontage.

Step 5: Following the engineering review, the county will survey the community to determine if at least 50% of property owners (one response per address) support the Traffic Calming Plan.

Step 6: The installation of any traffic calming device requires approval from VDOT, Goochland Fire-Rescue, Goochland County Sheriff's Office, and the Board of Supervisors. If the community survey confirms there is 50% or more support for the traffic calming devices, then the Board of Supervisors will vote to take formal action to have the traffic calming devices installed.

There is more information regarding Traffic Calming in VDOT's Traffic Calming Guide for Neighborhood Streets.