SPRING HILL, TN - There has been a lot of commentary on the new striping pattern on Stewart Campbell Pointe Road between New Port Royal Road and Jutes Drive with folks wondering why it looks the way it does. However, believe it or not, the striping pattern was designed to look that way on purpose – and at least that much worked since it got your attention!

Here’s the background… 

Speeding traffic has been a problem on this section of Stewart Campbell Point ever since the connection into the Brixworth subdivision and on over through Cherry Grove to Buckner Lane. The neighbors along the stretch, in addition to their HOA representatives, contacted the City numerous times to ask for recurring police enforcement to reduce the speeding. The City responded  several times, gave several tickets, and yet the speeding continued. The HOA requested the City perform a Neighborhood Traffic Calming Study, and the results of the study confirmed what the neighbors were experiencing.

Initial steps were taken to stripe the section to define narrow lanes and then allow the HOA to place permanent RADAR boards that would give motorists immediate visual feedback, letting them know they were violating the speed limit. Other subdivisions have done likewise, with varied success. Often times we’ve found that distracted drivers simply aren’t aware how fast they are going and the feedback will cause them to slow down. The RADAR board had some effect but not enough, which meant the drivers were ignoring the feedback and then speeding on purpose. The HOA requested that speed bumps be installed. However, this road is a primary route for fire trucks to the east side of Spring Hill, so speed bumps are not a preferred solution.

Staff then recommended the consideration of chicanes – concrete bulb-outs that force a driver to negotiate around them. The Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) recommended that BOMA fund a design and implementation plan. An engineering firm specializing in traffic engineering was selected and developed the new design, taking into consideration all the limiting factors, such as driveway spacing, appropriate separation of on-coming traffic, and sight distance (near Jutes Drive). That design was approved by the TAC and was presented to the HOA for commentary and feedback. The concrete curbing and the striping follows that plan and is designed to get the driver’s attention and have the driver purposefully alter the vehicle’s course in order to negotiate the pattern appropriately.

Since repaving Stewart Campbell Point was already in the current year project list, the chicanes were simply added to the project at a cost of approximately $8,000.00. The City is already collecting traffic data and will continue periodically to see if the design is having the intended impact and effect. This is the first chicane that the City has used as a traffic calming measure, and through its evaluation, we will develop modifications as well as other options that best suit Spring Hill in calming neighborhood speeding problems. 

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