Traffic Calming

Burlington streets are the cornerstone of safe neighborhoods. They are our routes home, to work, and to school. Each neighborhood and street is unique, but share a common need for traffic that is slower by design rather than through enforcement.

What is traffic calming?

Traffic calming is the addition of roadway features (bump outs, speed humps, chicanes, lane striping, etc) to reduce vehicle speeds or the amount of vehicles on a particular road or a particular area. The goals of traffic calming are to improve the quality of life within a residential or commercial area, increase the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists, and reduce automobile speeds.

What is the traffic calming process?

1. Contact DPW about traffic concerns on your street via SeeClickFix or email.

2. DPW will collect traffic data if needed (April - October). DPW will review crash history and traffic data to assess speed conditions and identify the percent of heavy truck traffic.

3. If data exceeds the thresholds from the Traffic Calming Manual (available below), DPW will determine your street's place in the queue and develop a traffic calming improvement plan based on the context of your streets. The improvement plan will be shared with the neighborhood but will not require a neighborhood vote.

4. If data does not meet the thresholds for traffic calming, resources will be provided for neighborhood enhancements to pursue separately.

How will streets be prioritized?

Traffic calming will prioritize safety first based on:

#1: streets with 85th percentile speeds exceeding the speed limit or slow zone target speed by more than 5 mph; or with a fatal crash or crash involving a person walking or biking within the last 5 years.

#2: construction activity that should be coordinated with other projects.

#3: streets with no traffic calming.

#4: streets with traffic calming.

#5: streets that have had traffic calming installed within the last 5 years.