Is Norwood “traffic calming” ringworm best use of street funds?

Norwood Lane is the first street in Arlington infected with a street ringworm (a small traffic circle).  The Norwood ringworm and other “traffic calming” ideas are among the cash-devouring “sustainability” fads embraced by our current city council.  More are coming. Calender Road is next, set to get not one, but two, ringworms.

So this is how our sustainability warriors solve a simple speeding problem?

Let’s consider some facts.

Speeding was a BIG problem on Norwood between Fielder and Abram.  On a street just 2/3 of a mile long, the city swears the average speed was 55mph.  That means for every car doing 30mph (the posted speed), the city clocked another at 80mph.  To get numbers like this, virtually everyone, including the residents themselves, would have to be speed demons.  We believe the city when it says the average speed was 55mph. We just wonder why every lead-footed driver in Arlington was picking on little Norwood.

So, yes, Norwood had a speed problem.  But that problem could have been solved with two stop signs at the intersection that cuts Norwood in half. Signs cost about $150 each.

We asked why stop signs weren’t used and were told that the speed demons of Norwood, among their many sins, don’t stop at stop signs; they just roll right through them.  Yet the ringworm solution legalizes such behavior via yield signs (you roll right through them), and because the intersection requires greater navigational skill, scofflaws now enjoy not just a race track, but an obstacle course as well.

Spending $100,000 on a problem that can be solved with $300 is bad enough, but what the city council bought the taxpayers of Arlington in this case was a major accident waiting to happen. 

And they know it.  People are not accustomed to driving streets where concrete islands, bushes, and small boulders have been intentionally placed in the road.  As soon as the council’s “traffic calming” features were in place, cars began hitting them.  Evidence of this can be seen in all the black tire marks on the newly-poured concrete curbs.

The city immediately began adding safety features to prevent further accidents, tire blowouts and broken axles.  Most of the in-street planters were filled with concrete because it was realized that greenery would make it difficult for residents to safely back out of their driveways.  A tall bush and three big rocks were planted in the middle of the intersection to discourage ringworm run-overs, but once leafed out, the bush will reduce visibility.

And now Norwood is scabbing over with warning signs.  Currently 35—yes 35!—new caution signs have been added to a street just 2/3 of a mile long, with 22 of these signs crowded around the ringworm intersection.  The ringworm itself has four big signs with black/white reflective bars like what one would see at a railroad crossing.  We counted 224 reflectors glued to the street surface and the newly added curbing.  This is more stuff than what you’d see if a bridge were out.

The upshot of all this is that the city understands that we’ve built something really dangerous.  When we kill or maim someone at this intersection, the $100,000 our council spent to make this intersection “safe” will be chicken feed compared to what we’ll pay once a good personal injury lawyer finishes with the city.

Arlington does not need more Norwoods.  What we need is more street improvements like the work recently done on Davis between Division Street and Lamar Blvd.  The repaving job done on this stretch of street made Davis an absolute pleasure to drive, and the work was done in an efficient and cost effective way.

Drive Norwood between Fielder and Abram, then drive Davis between Division and Lamar. Which do you think is the best use of your taxpayer dollars?  Let your city council know.