Speed humps approved for Bucknell-area streets

Two streets in the Bucknell area will be getting new speed humps this summer.

The speed humps, which were approved by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on March 19, will be installed on Smithway Drive and Mary Baldwin Drive. Each street will be getting one hump, with the Smithway Drive hump roughly going halfway between Beacon Hill Road and University Drive, and the Mary Baldwin Drive hump between Smithway Drive and and Kenyon Drive.

The total cost of the humps, as well as two other traffic-calming measures that were approved for other parts of the county, is $56,000.

The Smithway Drive and Mary Baldwin Drive traffic-calming measures were requested by members of the neighborhood, who worked Mount Vernon District Supervisor Dan Storck’s office and the Fairfax County Department of Transportation to come up with a solution.

An FCDOT spokeswoman said the humps will likely be installed sometime in July.

How to get traffic calming measures

If a community wants to get traffic calming measures such as speed humps installed on a street, certain criteria must be met. A road must have between 600-6,000 vehicles travel on it each day, the speed limit has to be 25 mph, and the 85th percentile speed of vehicles on the road is greater than or equal to 35 mph, or the average speed of vehicles is greater than or equal to 30 mph.

A neighborhood must initiate the traffic calming through their local supervisor’s office. Here’s a rundown of the process from the Fairfax County website:

• A homeowners association or civic association reaches out to their supervisor with the names of 4-5 residents who can serve as a task force for the process.
• The district supervisor forwards the request to FCDOT.
• FCDOT conducts a traffic count, speed survey and engineering review.
• If the road qualifies, FCDOT develops a conceptual traffic calming plan. The task force reviews and approves the conceptual plan.
• A community meeting is held on the proposed traffic calming plan.
• A vote is taken by residences in the petition (not impacted) area to approve the traffic calming plan.
• The Board of Supervisors approves the traffic calming plan.