Columbia City Council passes traffic calming plan

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Columbia City Council met Monday night and passed an agenda item that would create traffic calming improvements on Northland Drive.

Traffic calming improvements include things like speed bumps or traffic signs.

The project passed unanimously and will cost roughly $55,000 paid by the annual Traffic Calming Fund.

This project will bring eight speed bumps and a raised crosswalk to the area between Blue Ridge Road and Parker Street.

Speakers attended the hearing last night, with many in support of the traffic calming devices, while others were opposed to it.

"I keep warning these kids, watch for the fast cars," a man said to the council. "There's no way to know when that one fast car is coming up that hill."

According to a council memo, Northland Drive scored as the seventh-highest priority project within the 2021 Neighborhood Traffic Management Program.

Factors for the rating scale include things like speed, amount of foot traffic, bike routes and proximity to schools. According to the council memo, 1,200 cars travel on Northland Drive everyday.

Many people also wrote in support of the project, citing personal instances where they've seen driving that was not appropriate for the area.

Some speakers at the hearing wanted speed bumps or cones, but others thought the road should be widened instead.

"I think the correct solution is to bring the road into the 21st century," another man said. "It needs to be widened and have some shoulders put on it so it's a safer drive."

The Depart of Public Works says it will install them during the 2023 construction season.

According to the memo, staff anticipates the replacement of the traffic calming devices every 15 years.