Sunday, February 15, 2009
Random Thoughts - Radar Signs, Dunwoody Twitter, Neighborhood Watch & Citizens Police Academy
Speeding has been a topic of this blog for quite awhile therefore I have pursued a number initiatives (passed out Slow Down signs, proposed law changes, installed speed limit signs in Brook Run Park, intersection and cross walk installations, and recently a grant proposal) to affect change. This week I was notified by my good friends at PEDS (Pedestrians Educating Drivers on Safety) that Dunwoody has been chosen as a demonstration project for sign installation. Our Public Works Director, Mr. Richard Meehan has already been in contact with RadarSign regarding possible locations and installation. More information will be forthcoming in several weeks and I will report on it once the installation is complete.
Dunwoody Twitter
The updated City of Dunwoody website has been promised in the next month or so, therefore with the hopes of it having an RSS feed for updates, I reserved the DunwoodyGA twitter account. (Oops, I guess I should tell the City Manager before he reads this on my blog?)
If you are unfamiliar with twitter, think of it as sending a short e-mail to the internet and allowing anyone to read it if they so desire. I created one for my blog and set it up to feed twitter every time I update the blog, other than that I really haven't utilized twitter to its full potential.
If your reading this and have a twitter account, please do me a favor and follow @dunwoodynorth and @DunwoodyGa if you are interested in doing so and I'll follow you back.
http://twitter.com/dunwoodynorth
http://twitter.com/DunwoodyGA
Unincorporated Neighborhood Watch?
Oh how I wish the unincorporated areas of Doraville that voted down the annexation would follow the lead of the Decatur residents by organizing an effective neighborhood watch, but personally I just don't see it happening.
Sandy Springs' Citizens Police Academy
Give the Dunwoody Police Department a little time to get up and running, let us get an effective neighborhood watch program and then I am guessing a year or two down the road that we will be evaluating this Sandy Springs program to see if it could work for us.
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7 comments:
I rather like the idea of having those radar signs posted in areas, particularly residential ones where folks seem to have trouble observing the speed limit. One of my pastimes during rush hour is to watch speeders on my street, Valley View Road. The fun comes when they either forget or poorly compensate for the large speed bumps the county placed along the road years ago. I've never seen anyone come to a halt from damage, but I've seen lots of sparks and trailing parts through the years. I've even seen Dekalb Police cruisers bottom out and give off sparks. To be fair, I've only seen this when they were in pursuit.
If one or more of these signs should find their way to Valley View Road, I will watch with interest to see if it has any effect on speeders who regularly use this road to cut through between Ashford Dunwoody and Chamblee Dunwoody Roads. I'm glad the street goes through; a point with which some neighbors object, but it does invite folks looking to shave time from their commutes.
Mark, I agree. There are several locations, probably too many, where these signs would be effective. In my neck of the woods we don't even get the benefit of speed bump fire works.
Even if we can't put them everywhere they're needed maybe we can get a few portable ones (they don't have to be on the trailer) to gather hard data on speeders. This should help allay fears that we're building a speed trap.
It is a pity, Thaddeus, that you don't have the entertaining aspect of the bumps. They do come at a cost though. If you are on a bike, motorcycle, or small car, you must approach them with great caution or you risk personal & mechanical injury. My current transportation is a Lincoln Towncar so I barely feel them, though I still prefer to observe the speed limit regardless of whether I am in my own neighborhood or not.
I really am curious to see what impact, if any, they may have on those who tend to violate speed limits regularly, and tactics for addressing them on the part of our police. If the stationary ones they intend have a positive effect, I'd be very supportive of portable ones which could give much greater flexibility to our city. Perhaps we should begin with portable ones. My only concerns would be how easily they may be damaged or stolen.
I live in Village Mill on Village Creek Drive and we have been unsuccesfully trying to get traffic calming/speeding measures implemented for a long time. Even though we have the majority of residents of the street in favor it, DeKalb County recently tabled any action because they did not know if the new City of Dunwoody would be handling such things. Does anyone know who our neighbors need to contact?
I live on Peeler Road, which is used a cut-through to I-285 and cars speed like they are on I-285 on Peeler. About 8 years ago one of the local TV channels came out and did a story on the dangerous conditions on our street. We thought at the time the county would at least beef up police patrols or put up those portable speed indicators. Nope.
Speeding is a real problem in Dunwoody. Quite frankly, I don't care if we get a reputation for being a speed trap if we can cut down on the speeding.
Mark: I've researched these signs and some are bullet-proof. I'm sure they can be locked down to a post, but even that won't stop a determined "Cool Hand Luke".
DM: It might be nice if Dunwoody had a well-earned reputation as a speed trap. At least for a little while.
Keith,
I was tracking your traffic calming petition as it worked though the DeKalb system and saw that it was tabled to the point to where you may need to start over with Dunwoody.
An update regarding the new school and Womack Road was on the Monday City Council agenda and I called Mike Smith to get a neighborhood update from him since he lives on Olde Village Lane. I am very worried about your streets being used as a direct cut through route to the new school and invited Mike to attend our meeting. Mike met with Mr. Richard Meehan the Public Works Director to discuss procedure in case your neighborhood wants to restart or continue your application. I also have Mr. Meehan obtaining all of the traffic studies and documentation originally submitted so that you do not have to start from scratch.
Please talk to Mike if you have his number or you can call Mr. Meehan (678-382-6850) or myself (770-234-0678) for more information.
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