So-called “traffic calming” has become a recent topic of discussion between those concerned with the declining quality of safety on our neighborhood streets and residents who question how best to address and remedy the situation.

Advocates of “streetscaping” and similar measures designed to slow down vehicular traffic by means of placing visually unobtrusive obstacles in the streets – such as landscaping and small structural elements – feel that this is the preferred way to go.

Many question the wisdom of such an approach, citing costs of installing such features, potential impedance of emergency response vehicles, etc.

Others are arguing for lowering speed limits in residential neighborhoods, such as has been recently proposed and approved in the state legislature. While this may look good on paper, the question of effective enforcement of these lower limits is yet to be answered. It simply isn’t possible to assign a traffic cop to every other corner on our city streets. Electronic surveillance and ticketing technologies are expensive and might be considered too invasive by many residents.

This issue is far from being worked out and resolved. Debate about the best approach to a solution goes on and remains something of a speed bump in our overall picture of how our city’s roadway infrastructure should be handled now and in the future. Unfortunately so.