Residents may pay for speed humps
New speed limits were set Tuesday on three Columbia County roads.
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Columbia County Commission voted to establish 45 mph as the speed limit on Chamblin Road, William Few Parkway and International Parkway.
Previously, the limit was 45 mph or 55 mph on portions of those roads, said Matt Schlachter, the county Construction and Maintenance Services interim director.
The commission also approved changes to the speed-hump policy that will allow residents to pay for the installation if taxpayer funds dry up.
Should a road meet the qualifications for speed humps and the commission approve the installation, residents of that road may pay for the traffic-control devices if installation funding comes up short.
Officials budgeted $110,000 for speed-hump installation for this fiscal year. It costs between $1,200 to $1,500 to install one speed hump.
Another change made to the policy was to establish an order for speed-hump installation based on the dates projects were approved by the commission.
If funding runs out before all the roads on the list receive the humps, then residents may pay the county to install the humps if they don't want to wait until the next fiscal year.
All it takes for a road to receive speed humps is for a homeowner to complain to county officials about excessive speeding on their road.
Traffic engineers then conduct a study, and if a significant number of motorists are speeding on the road, it will qualify for speed humps.
Only residential roads qualify for speed humps.
During a study conducted earlier this year, county officials determined that the humps are effective in slowing down motorists, or prompting them to find an alternative route.
One study held on a one-mile stretch of Broad Oak Drive, off Louisville road, showed the number of speeding incidents dropping from 383 to just 11 after the humps were installed.
Similar results were reported on Autumn Trail, Sugarcreek Drive, Long Creek Falls and Spring Lakes Drive.
On Broad Oak Drive, the average daily traffic count fell by 31 percent.
The traffic count also fell on other roads included in the study.
Also at the meeting, the commission approved alcohol licenses for the sale of beer and wine for a Food Lion on Columbia Road, a Food Lion on Evans to Locks Road and the Walmart in the Gateway center outside Grovetown.