Sign Overload: No Left Turn. NO LEFT TURN.

GDOT really really doesn't want you to turn left here.  So much so that they have two signs to tell you so.

This is our historic square folks.  It should be beautiful, peaceful and inviting.  There are numerous other examples of unnecessary clutter in the form of signs and signals that just aren't necessary. 

Who is in charge of removing redundant signs?  

The Pollution We Don't See

This is an enhanced cross-post from my montly column, Community Design Matters, inThe Roswell Current.

They are there for our safety.  To protect us from others and ourselves.  They inform us and guide us.  But, until you sit back and look at all of them in their glory, you don’t realize that they suffocate us, degrade our environment and tell us just how stupid others think we are.  Most of them serve a purpose but many of them are redundant.  Virtually all of them have a colored front, a shiny back and are supported by a cheap steel bar.  They lack any level of charm and are often put in precisely the wrong place. 

I hope this isn't occurring frequently enough to warrant a sign

What I’m talking about are signs.  Just look around the next time you are at an intersection.  You would be hard pressed to find a place that has fewer than 10 signs of some sort visible.  We don’t accept litter, we regulate air and water pollution.  However, when it comes to sign pollution, the polluters know no bounds.  Case in point is the recent courtroom victory of georgia billboard companies versus north fulton cities that don’t want billboards polluting their cities.  Rather than siding with the people and the cities, the court has ruled that North Fulton cities must reimburse the billboard companies $4 million.  Get ready for more billboards!

Here’s a sample of the sign pollution that goes largely unnoticed every day: 

Entrance, Do Not Enter, Wrong Way, Stop, Yield, 4 Way Stop, 3 Way Stop, Yield to Oncoming Traffic, Keep Moving, Slow Traffic Keep Right, Blind Driveway, No Trucks, No Parking, Parking, Compact Cars Only, Handicapped Parking, Fire Lane, Turn Arrows, No Turn Arrows, Speed Limit, Round About Ahead, Stop Ahead, Speed Bump, Speed Hump, Dip, Gas, Lodging, Food, Mile Marker, No Left Turn, No Right on Red, Watch for Pedestrians, MARTA, Kiss-Ride, Airport, Low Flying Planes, Speed Monitored by Detection Devices, Slow Children at Play, Animal Crossing, Thru Traffic, Hospital, School Zone, Walk, Don’t Walk, Neighborhood Watch, Adopt a Highway, Body of Water Notice, Watershed Notice, Bridge May Ice in Winter, Use Headlights When Raining, City Limits, County Line, State Line, Overhead Clearance, Commemorative Road Markers, Keep off Grass, Historical Markers, Memorial Highway, Memorial Bridge, Tourist Interest Signs, Highway #, Billboards (electric and traditional), Subdivision Signs, Street Signs, Shopping Center Signs, Store Signs, Exit

Are half of those are even necessary?  Do we really need to be on the look out for Low Flying Planes and in the know that Speed is Monitored by Detection Devices?  Do we really need 8 Wrong Way signs at one off ramp?  Head on collisions are tragic but most are caused by drunks who would miss a hundred wrong-way signs. 

Are we truly safer with all these signs or is it DEsigns that make us safer?  There is a concept in Europe called a woonerf devised by a radical traffic engineer where all traffic signs and signals are absent.  It looks like chaos but it’s actually much safer than a standard intersection.  Why?  Because drivers are forced to pay attention.  When a driver feels uncomfortable, the driver pays more attention.  When drivers pay more attention, they crash lest often.  Our roads have been designed to make it easy to not pay attention.  Their straight & wide designs forgive us for texting, eating, looking down and generally not focusing on the road.

Do we need more signs or do we need better roads?  The next time your DOT wants to put up another sign, think about the true necessity of that sign and ask if we need a new sign on that road or a redesign of that road.

Above, I mentioned a woonerf which is a signless intersection.  The Strong Towns Blog which I follow regularly recently had a post with a number of video links that illustrate the power of the signless intersection.  This one was my favorite because it illustrades how the same intersection works with and without lights.  There are several more videos that get into more detail and examples that you can check out here.

Now, where could we put in a woonerf and create a shared space in Roswell?  I think there are two spots in particular that would serve as a perfect testing ground..  They are the Norcross St. and of Webb St. intersections on Canton St.  Traffic is slow enough that cars, pedestrians and bicyclists can all interact well with eachother.  I would go further and propose that the speed limit be reduced from 25 mph to 15 mph from Goulding south to Magnolia.

These are the types of ideas we need to be thinking about and implementing.  They are cost effective, decrease traffic and safer when implemented correctly.

image: fanpop.com

Another Sign... That You Can't Drive

Happy May Day Roswell.. Your gift is at the intersection of Mimosa and 120.  We should all thank DOT for prohibiting left turns from Mimosa to 120 during all hours of the day instead of the previous rush hour restrictions.  I feel safe and protected now.  In fact, I'm going to sleep well tonight knowing that no one will be making left turns from Mimosa on to Hwy 120 at 3am.  Sleep easy Roswell.. One less thing to worry about and we get another shiny new sign to brighten up our historic town square.  

Town Planner, Bulb-Outs, Rickshaws and Food Trucks

Historic Gateway Master Plan Contract

It's looking like the city may be awarding a $110k contract to a team led by planning and landscape architecture firm jB+a at Monday's council meeting.  This comes as a surprise and small disappointment to us as two of the three finalists for the contract were Tunnel-Spangler & Walsh (TSW) and Duany, Plater-Zyberk (DPZ).  These two firms are at the forefront of New Urbanist planning.  TSW master planned Glenwood Park, Woodstock Downtown and the modification of the DPZ Vickery Village town center plan.  DPZ is known most notably for their designs of the towns along the beaches of South Walton, Seaside, Rosemary Beach and Alys Beach.  

Comparing the three firms, it's quite obvious where the experience is.  DPZ has master planned over 200 villages and town centers.  TSW has master planned over 100.  jB+a has a more challenging resume to figure out in the master planning area but they did do work on the Sewanee town center and presented plans that they did for the downtowns of Mooresville, NC and Macon, GA.

When you're in the market for a heart surgeon, who do  you want performing the procedure? A Resident (JB+a), A General Surgeon (TSW) or the Best Heart Surgeon in the World (DPZ)?

I'm sure jB+a and team will do a fine job but I can't help but think we missed an opportunity to get a world class planner into our historic district.  (Click here for the memo)

Bulb Outs on Mimosa

We love this.  The city is planning on taking down a number of no parking signs along Mimosa.  You know how we love those road signs.  While they are at it, they will be installing 8 bulb outs along the street to bring curbs closer to the traffic lanes.  This will improve crossings and aesthetics and help reduce speeds on the road .  The project will also add 7 parking spots along the street bringing the total to 141.  Here's a link to the proposed map.

Rickshaws on Canton

Here's another recent item that we love.  Anything we can do to promote regular, everyday bicycling in the historic district is a good thing.  Having bicycle cabs (pedicabs) will definitely do that.  Continued visibility of bicyclists on the road is a key to improving bicycle safety.  When we see moms and kids regularly riding their bikes in the historic district, we will know that we are a truly bicycle friendly community.  But pedicabs are a great start.  I can't wait to take a ride on one.  I just hope they will come all the way down to the square. (Link to Story on the Roswell Patch)

Food Trucks

The Roswell Neighbor reported last week that the city is looking into how it can accommodate the rapidly growing supply of food trucks in our metro area.  Currently no food trucks are allowed to operate in Roswell however there have been some that have applied for permits.  However, we do have a 'food truck' inside INC which severs some sweet street food.  Personally, I haven't had the opportunity to enjoy any of the food trucks in the metro area (save the King of Pops) and it would be nice to have that opportunity here in Roswell. Check out the Atlanta Street Food Coalition's website to see what trucks could make their way out to Roswell one of these days...

Signs, Signs, Everywhere a Sign

I would like to take the time to thank the City of Roswell for two utterly pointless signs in the Mill Village neighborhood of Historic Roswell.  I believe they were just installed this week but I could be wrong.

These signs are on Vickery Street which is a very picturesque little street in the historic district with the Bricks and Sloan Street Park on the north side of the road and some very nice houses on the south side of the street.  A couple of the houses have been turned into small businesses such as an attorneys office.  There are a total of 11 houses on the south side of the street and the Bricks has 9 units on the north side.  So, there are a total of about 17-18 dwelling units on the road (several of which don't use the road for their driving needs as they use Sloan St) and a few very low trafficked businesses.

My question is, did we really need these signs?  See the diagram below:

The two signs that I'm talking about are the one way sign at the end of the small cul-de-sac and the wrong way sign warning the handful of people who failed to see the one way sign that they are going the wrong way.  Now, I'm no traffic engineer but I'd have to guess that this is a pretty low volume street compared to others in the area.  I can't imagine more than a couple hundred car trips per day max and I'd wager that 95% of those trips are made by people familiar with the road.  

The number of people who could conceivably take a left turn out of that cul-de-sac is so few that this sign is utterly pointless.  So, the liability experts have decided to protect the residents from hypothetical head on collisions that wouldn't occur anyway as this is a low speed street that is wide enough to accommodate two way traffic anyway (and it probably should).

Here are the two shiny signs unnecessarily polluting our historic district protecting ourselves from ourselves.  Thank you Roswell.  I'm sure we created some jobs and boosted our economy.  Stop putting up unnecessary signs!

I feel safer

No way anyone can sue us now