Parents press Smyrna for traffic-calming; public works explains speed-hump petition and study process

Katherine (Katie) Taylor told council she has witnessed vehicles run a stop sign at a bus stop and narrowly miss children, and she asked the town to add stop signs and to explore speed-hump installation. "Please, um, have someone come place stop signs," Taylor told the council, describing repeated close calls outside her home near a middle-school route.

Public works (Tom) and police described how the town evaluates neighborhood speeding complaints: police enforcement and citations; a speed study and traffic counts to test warrants for all-way stops; and, for speed humps, a neighborhood petition canvassing property owners within roughly 1,000 feet, a two-thirds approval threshold and a cost split (about 60% resident / 40% town) for purchasing the hump. Tom said the town pays installation, signage and long-term maintenance once installed and will remove and reinstall humps at no cost when streets are resurfaced.

Councilmembers urged continued police enforcement, additional speed studies and an engineering review for stop signs or other mitigations. Officials noted alternatives such as signage near playgrounds, rumble strips, or increased police presence could be used while neighborhoods pursue petition-driven traffic-calming measures.