4.2. SR 10-04-1993 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

- 14 . . 8. Traffic circles have been employed at low-volume, local street intersections to control speed. Speed control circles occupy a large central portion of the intersections, thereby forcing traffic to slow in negotiating its way around these circles. In practice, circles were found to hav~ relatively little speed control effectiveness. . 9. A choker is' a narrowing of the street, either at an intersection or at midblock, to constrain the width of the travelled way. Except where the narrowing is extreme enough to limit use of the "choked" section to one direction at a time, chokers have gener- ally not had significant effect on traffic volume or speed. D. Passive controls involve the use of regulatory signs and markings to inform the driver that a specific action is not permitted, while not physically preventing the action. As such, passive controls are more easily violated than most physical controls. Their advantages include the fact that some can be in force during only portions of the day. They also impose fewer constraints on emergency vehicles, which can ignore them when necessary with little problem or hazard. Experience has shown that even with the violations, some passive controls produce a significant improvement in the volume and speed of traffic on local streets. e 1. The most effective form of passive control appears to be an area system of one-wa streets. Either a "full maze" system or a "l imited entry" pattern Figure 1) can substantially discourage through traffic by creating system discontinuities. They have minimal adverse effects on emergency vehicles and they tend to be more respected by motorists than other "passive" devices. One-way streets may also result in substantial reductions in accidents at local street intersections by reducing potential traffic conflicts. 2. Turn prohibitions involve the use of standard "No Right-Turn" or "No Left-Turn" signs, with or without peak hour limitations. These prevent turning movements onto local streets, thereby reducing volume. They are best used at the perophery of a residential area rather than within it. Turn prohobitions are generally more effective and more easily enforceable than "No Thru Traffic" prohibitions used under similar conditions. e 3. Although.thebasic purpose of stopsignsjs to assign right of way ,..they.have,frequently been. used in attemptsto.cpntrob. < traffic, volume and .speeds on locaL streets. Such use of stop ,signs is generally inappropriate and ineffective for speed. contro] , and excessive use of them (especially 4;way stops), < breeds contempt' for all traffic control devices..;; Speed reduc-, _tions are;generally limited to within about 200geet of the . stop sign, while midblock speeds may actually increase. How- ever, if they reduce the speed of, or divert the few very fast drivers who tend to be the most disturbing to residents, resi- - .....~. v