More Speedbumps?

Anne has a point, but did anyone see the voter turn out in 2007? Do Town residents who drive once a month at 5 MPH really care about speed bumps?

Put in speed bumps and tell the pedestrians and bikers they can dart out in front of moving cars. Some of these people have seen too many Superman movies. I have found that you cannot drive slowly because drivers and pedestrians interpret it as a courtesy and proceed when they should not.

See?... $250,000 per linear foot!

How about strict enforcement of traffic laws?! No one in NW Vienna actually stops at a stop sign. Minivans fly down Windover Avenue or Lewis Street running every stop sign along the way.

Or, the intersection blockers on Maple Avenue during rush hour. Hello?! Some of us actually live here and need to run out at 5:30pm to pick up the dry cleaning.

I'd rather speed bumps than speeding cars. Truth is, Vienna is full of traffic just going through. Cars zoom through neighborhoods to save minutes to destination during rush hours. Unless there were about a hundred cops on force, I don't think traffic enforcement would have much impact. In England, don't they call speed bumps sleeping policemen? WYLTN - I find your comment about it being impossible to drive slow and safely curious.... that has not been my experience.

"No one in NW Vienna actually stops at a stop sign"? Speak for yourself, 'vienna mommy'. Having lived in Vienna for many years-and actually being a good driver-I ALWAYS stop at stop signs. Much to the chagrin of many drivers behind me, I might add. Particularly on Lawyers Road, where most (nowadays, at least) drivers have Loudoun or Leesburg stickers on their cars. All in a hurry to get to the toll road.

My observation of speed is thru the rear view mirror. I don't see cars approaching rapidly from a distance. No one is behind me blowing their horn to speed me up or passing on a double line. Actually I am surprised at the number of cars that back off rather than tailgating in Vienna.

I live in NE Vienna. On John Marshall NE, they put a couple speed bumps. It really bothers me because I have enough of a hard time trying to get up John Marshall in the snow without those damn things, so thanks Vienna for making my life more difficult in one more way!

Not to be rude, not to offend anyone, I just get tired of those friggin things.

BTW- random, but I really do like this website! Im only 20, but Ive lived here since I was 4 (along with my other family members) and had no idea about all this crazy mess with Vienna's "government." Thanks for the info and keep it coming!

I would have no problem with speed bumps if you could drive over them at the posted speed limit without jacking up your car. But you can't... you have to slow down to a crawl, which is exactly why speed bumps belong in parking lots and NOT in the middle of thoroughfares!

If people are speeding, get a cop out there to give them a speeding ticket. I've seen only one speed trap in Vienna so far this whole year... the jokers were out there on Park Street at 10:00 in the morning gunning us old fart non-speeders slowly poking our way down to the Vienna Community Center to vote in the Town election. Nice touch, Maud... good display of your command and control!

The town has chosen not to enforce ANY traffic ordinances in NW Vienna for a long time now - speeders, stop sign runners, etc. Zero cops are spotted in these parts.

For our safety, a few speed bumps around here are necessary since we barely have but a sidewalk or two.

I agree a speedbump will have to suffice but how about having cops sit on West and actually ticket these offenders?! People speed like madmen through NW because there are zero repercussions.

Vienna Council Adds Another Traffic-Calming Measure
by BRIAN TROMPETER, Staff Writer
Thursday, October 25, 2007

Some Vienna residents say speeding cars on West Street, N.W., recently endangered a 5-year-old girl and should be countered with traffic-calming measures.

“A lot of young people give it all the gas they can” when driving on the street, said Cassel Hoston, who lives in the 400 block of the street.

His neighbor, Rhonda Van Diest, agreed.

“We are more afraid for our children than anything else,” she said.

The Vienna Town Council on Oct. 22 approved a speed hump on West Street to deter speeders. The town also will install a “Cross Traffic Does Not Stop” sign at Lewis and West streets, and a speed-limit sign on West Street.

Town Manager John Schoeberlein told supporters of the traffic-calming measures to come to him next time for sign approvals, which may be done administratively instead of with a public hearing.

Town officials will review traffic data after the first speed hump is installed, and may consider a second speed hump if necessary. Vienna Department of Public Works officials also will review the option of parallel striping on West Street, which could “calm” traffic by making the road appear to be narrower.

Some of the above comments are amusing. Complain about cars driving through JVienna to the toll road but no concern that it is because the Vienna Council prevented the completion of Abbotsford Drive. The completion of Abbotsford Drive. Note that yhou are held from crossing Maple Avenue because Abbotsford Drive not completed. (The town wanted the traffic for business.) Also, what was a five year old girl doing in West Street? I notice that West Street is very special. It has no parking signs the length of the straight stretch. Why?

I have said many times on here that I support Abbotsford going through up to Route 7. If you look on the tax maps, very few houses would be in the way. But, it's not going to happen.

What part of West are you talking about? All of West is straight.

There are lots of streets that should just cut through, in my opinion.

Example: Glyndon St. It goes through one side of Vienna across Maple Ave, but cuts out at a neighborhood. Then starts again and continues.

Abottsford would be a miracle. You know, even though Ive lived here forever, Ive never really had the time to either look up or find out personally where it goes, so do you know how many times Ive turned down one of their friggin sections of that road thinking I was going to get somewhere faster only to find out that I have to turn around? Ah! I hate when that happens!!!

Another thing about posting a speed limit sign is that people do know the speed limit. They just choose to break/ignore it.

Vienna's traffic sucks. Church St is a nightmare during rush hour, so is Maple Ave, actually, so are all streets. But then again, when are people not in a rush in this area? I do get annoyed at those "No Turn" during such and such hours/days lol because, like everyone else, I just want to get where Im going. Most people know all the back roads now.

I dont know enough about traffic patterns and honestly am too lazy to do any sort of research about Vienna's traffic (sorry), but what do you guys think would happen if they were to lift such limits (No turn from x - x)? Do you think there would still be the same amount of congestion? Id like to hear your input :)

The congestion would be eased a bit because it would be spread out onto more streets. It could be worth doing a trial run of several months to see how traffic patterns would change. The residents of the streets affected would probably hate it, but the truth is that all the streets are public and are paid for mainly with state tax dollars. I don't understand why residents should have the right to privatize their streets during rush hour, as they do in Vienna and some other places.

Good point, Anne Smith, about how those roads ARE paid for by our tax dollars. That didnt even occur to me.

Trying it out for a couple of months sounds like an excellent idea. Especially when gas prices are so high, I really dont have the money to drive the 10 perimeter around wherever it is I need to go when I could just cut right through!

Another point: Open streets = people getting to wherever they are going faster = less cars on road at any given time (maybe?)

What are the reasons for people wanting those roads closed off anyways? So that they dont have to look at the congestion? I mean, come on. I dont want to look at the congestion in other parts of Vienna, and as Anne Smith said, we DO pay our taxes, so why is it any different there other than those people will have more to complain about?

I think that this website would do excellent with a message board LOL. Call me lazy, but I have to scroll down the page and monitor the old posts to see if anyone has replied LOL. Not complaining about the site, I love it.
I would love to see things posted every day.

We residents requested speedbumps in our neighborhoods because we were tired of people driving 50 MPH through our neighborhoods with our kids playing on the sidewalks. There have been several accidents in the neighborhoods with people hitting stopsigns, running up on sidewalks, etc because they took corners to fast. SO HOORAY FOR THE SPEEDBUMPS.

>>We residents requested speedbumps in our neighborhoods because we were tired of people driving 50 MPH through our neighborhoods with our kids playing on the sidewalks.

Why not just request the law enforcement you are paying for? Now you have speeding and speed bumps.

Speedbumps are a challange for fast drivers and the police know it. An example is a rise on Hunter Mill Road which causes cars to become airborne when traversed too fast. Every year we hear of young persons who sustain head injuries from jumping that hill. So with speed bumps you are encouraging dangerous behaviour. When driving you are attentive, when horseplaying you are out of control. In my humble opinion there is driving, which is safe and steering, which is stupid.

there's a movement in Europe and Australia called "naked streets" in which all speed bumps, warning signs, pavement markings, etc. are removed. it's counter-intuitive, but studies have shown that these "naked streets" actually end up safer because people HAVE to slow down and pay more attention to their driving. I can definitiely see how removing center lines, such as the one on Broadleaf, would make drivers slow down since they'd be less sure where the oncoming cars would be.