City hosts second meeting on Rollins Road traffic calming project

The Columbia Public Works Department is asking for feedback on proposed plans designed to help reduce speed on a neighborhood street.

Rollins Road is ranked fourth on the city’s 2016 Neighborhood Traffic Management Program Priority List.

The city said certain parts of the street see close to 1,500 cars a day with speeds averaging at 39.5 miles per hour in a 25 mile per hour zone.

Traffic engineering supervisor Jacob Ray said while most residents seem to want drivers to slow down, they have different views on traffic calming methods.

“There’s a lot of discussion on how to do that,” he said. “But ultimately the end goal is to have drivers that are driving through the neighborhood drive slower.”

Right now the proposed plan includes installing three speed tables, a speed hump and a curb extension along Rollins between Stadium and Sunset, which is estimated to cost about $50,000.

“I feel like I might be OK with a speed hump or a speed table in a couple of places just not as much as they’re talking about,” said Mark Keltly, who lives just off Rollins. “I feel like maybe it’s overkill.”

Public works will be collecting comments on the project for the next three weeks before taking final design plans to the city council for approval. Ray said they’re hoping to do that by the spring.