City of Tulsa looking at adding more 'traffic calming' devices

The City of Tulsa plans a more aggressive stance on speeding through neighborhoods. But it won't involve officers giving tickets. News on 6 reporter Emory Bryan says Tulsa is looking in at ways of

Thursday, May 22nd 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

The City of Tulsa plans a more aggressive stance on speeding through neighborhoods. But it won't involve officers giving tickets. News on 6 reporter Emory Bryan says Tulsa is looking in at ways of slowing down traffic.

The sign is a little misleading - because Broken Arrow uses something more like a hump than a bump. It's flatter and wider - so cars can go over it at the speed limit - but not much faster. Sgt Ed Ferguson, Broken Arrow Police: "We call them sleeping policemen, the speed humps, because they're always there whereas the police can't always be there."

Broken Arrow has years of experience using humps. The city is sold on them. They're inexpensive and effective at calming the flow of traffic. David Wooden, Broken Arrow Public Works: "We have not had an area where it has not worked - we've had places where it was harder to make it work because we had hard headed people there, but even if you put a small hump there people tend to go over it and say oops, I'm supposed to be going 25."

And that's why Tulsa is looking at doing the same thing. Tulsa City Councilor Randy Sullivan says speeding in neighborhoods is one of the most common complaints he hears. â€œAnd this is a way to protect the integrity of the neighborhoods in our city.â€ He's helped draft a new city policy that encourages traffic calming humps in neighborhoods.

Expect to see more traffic diverters too - to make some neighborhood streets one way. Traffic calming can solve problems and create problems too. When the city installed a traffic diverter to cut traffic on one street, people started avoiding it by cutting through a nearby parking lot. But the neighborhood nearby has less traffic. And that's just want many neighborhoods want - less traffic, and slower traffic - even if it takes a hump to make it happen.