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Not on My Block

This story from the Houston Chronicle details a very typical traffic happening: A group of residents on a well-to-do street got their block cut off to through traffic, which has resulted in more traffic on every other nearby street.

There is a kind of paradox that exists in terms of how people feel about traffic in their neighborhoods: Everyone wants a.) to drive, and b.) wants quick access to fast roads, but no one wants traffic on their street. But you can’t have one without the other, unless, of course, as in the story above, you redistribute inequitably.

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This entry was posted on Monday, April 27th, 2009 at 7:34 am and is filed under Congestion, Traffic Engineering. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

4 Responses to “Not on My Block”

  1. Bossi Says:
    April 27th, 2009 at 3:42 pm

    My opinion (which I stand by professionally, too) is that public roads are for the public. Hence, it’s not so much that cut-through traffic exists; rather our duty is to ensure that it is traveling safely. If a community wishes to restrict traffic, however, it is my belief that they should be responsible for its maintenance costs.

    However, public to private transfers can spurn pocket neighborhoods, shifting cut-through traffic solely to arterials & destroying what may otherwise be a functioning grid system. Hence, public policy should carefully consider what is desired: more suburban-style pocket neighborhoods or urban grid patterns.

  2. Nick Says:
    April 27th, 2009 at 7:16 pm

    The basic axiom of the politics of traffic is you always want to live somewhere that’s easy to drive to, and you never want to live somewhere that’s easy to drive through.

  3. Andrew Says:
    April 27th, 2009 at 8:02 pm

    If you don’t have the juice to get a physical traffic cut-off, go for needless 4-way stops. They do not “calm” traffic, they are not safer, but if drivers detour to a street with fewer stops, they are, from your perspective, a success.

  4. Grant Johnson, PE, PTOE Says:
    May 7th, 2009 at 4:27 am

    The NIMBY’s (not in my back yard) mentality is basically selfish. They get their speed humps or a set of stop signs, and then the “thru” neighborhood traffic diverts to another street. The result is another street getting some, and another, until there is an eventual set of over-used traffic control devices littering the neighborhood street system. What we won’t go through to control speeds, as important as that is. I have always thought the BEST solution is radar speed enforcement by a cop. Best ever. Get the speeders! Get the stop sign runners. Give ‘em a ticket. And show up often to enforce. It WILL work over time to fix it.

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Traffic Tom Vanderbilt

How We Drive is the companion blog to Tom Vanderbilt’s New York Times bestselling book, Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us), published by Alfred A. Knopf in the U.S. and Canada, Penguin in the U.K, and in languages other than English by a number of other fine publishers worldwide.

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