In a city with more golf carts than cars, a separate infrastructure of golf cart roads and special parking spots, traffic concerns still take place on conventional roads. Peachtree City, GA is a planned city, built around 50 years ago. The city has over 90 miles of golf cart roads, with its own system of bridges and tunnels. The local stores have specialized parking for golf carts, and at the high school there are more golf cart than there are cars. In fact, more than 9,000 households own a golf cart, more than any other city in the world. But even in this golf-cart-traffic dominated city, traffic safety is still a concern on the traditional roads.
The golf carts used by the residents of Peachtree City are primarily used for local traffic use. But in the Planterra subdivision, the traffic issues weren’t just limited to local traffic. Although the streets are residential ones with speed limits of 25 mph, they run parallel to State Highway 54. When 54 was recently being widened, people began to use these streets as a cut through to avoid the highway. Increased traffic volume and speeding vehicles became a serious safety concern for local residents.
Although the streets in the subdivision are part of a homeowners association, the roads are publicly owned. The neighborhood therefore had to get city permission before installing any traffic calming devices. At first, the city tried installing three inch high speed bumps to address the speeding and cut-through. The speed bumps brought cars to an abrupt, almost complete stop. Residents complained about the difficult ride over the bumps, as well as the noise they caused when cars went over them. The local fire department was unhappy with the bumps as well, as they slowed their response time when heading for an emergency.
The city decided an alternative solution was needed. When the city’s traffic engineer came across the Traffic Logix speed cushions , they began to research the product features to see what set them apart. The cushions are made of a softer material than the bumps and offer a more gradual slowing, for a less noisy ride. They are installed as a series of several small speed humps , which are longer and far less aggressive than bumps. The Traffic Logix cushions slow vehicles to more reasonable speeds rather than the abrupt stop offered by bumps. And perhaps most importantly, since speed cushions are installed in a series across the road, emergency vehicles can straddle them without slowing for ease of access. The fire department was more supportive of the speed cushions, as a traffic calming alternative that kept public safety in mind.
The speed cushions were installed in 6 sets of 3 cushions on Planterra Way and Terrain Ridge. Since their installation, city engineer David Borkowski commented that “there has only been positive feedback from residents and the complaints have really stopped. There has been a significant reduction in vehicle speed and volume since their installation.”
The streets of Peachtree City are now safer for its residents, even if they aren’t driving golf carts.