Mott MacDonald has helped Sheffield City Council (SCC) with its ambition to become a UK leader in innovative traffic calming techniques.
As part of the project commissioned by SCC, Mott MacDonald has identified a series of potential traffic calming measures and in consultation with the Council created an additional “toolkit” of measures geared towards possible use in three road environments in Sheffield: the city centre, local distributor roads, and minor residential streets.
Brian Witten, Technical Director in Mott MacDonald’s Sheffield Office explained, “Traditional traffic calming measures – such as road humps, speed tables and speed cushions combined with road signs and markings, can often be unpopular with motorists and also need careful consideration of the requirements of emergency services.
"Sheffield County Council wanted to investigate whether there were more effective and sustainable alternatives, and asked Mott MacDonald to carry out a review of all possible traffic calming measures, including innovative and “psychological” techniques used both in the UK and internationally, and to then assess these to determine which had the best potential for use in Sheffield.”
As part of the study, Mott MacDonald gathered information about a wide range of traffic calming measures, including traditional, innovative, unconventional and “psychological” methods. Traditional methods include vertical deflection provided by speed cushions, low profile humps, and raised junctions, as well as road signs. Innovative measures currently being developed across the world include vehicle-responsive road humps, chicanes and pinch-points, road surfacing, vehicle-actuated signs and speed indicator devices, road signs, removal of road markings, gateways and entry treatments, average speed cameras, optical illusions, shared space, and community involvement. Optical illusions can be used to give drivers the impression of greater speed, and can also include “trompe-d’oeil” markings on the road surface giving the impression of humps or hollows.
Unconventional traffic calming methods identified included speed indicator devices showing more “hard-hitting” information than the usual vehicle speed, such as the percentage chance of seriously or fatally injuring a pedestrian while travelling at different speeds. Another technique identified is to park collision-damaged cars by the roadside as a warning to drivers.
Theories behind “psychological” traffic calming measures were also assessed and include increasing cognitive load on the driver, the amount of information that a driver must deal with, decreasing any perceived benefit of speeding, and fear of enforcement of the speed limit.
