Neighborhood Traffic Calming

The process begins when residents ask the city to evaluate vehicle speeds on their street. A petition showing sufficient neighborhood interest is required before the street can be considered.

What does significant neighborhood interest mean?

• Support from at least 50% of households in the possible project area (owners or renters) 

• Only one signature per household allowed 

• The petition must be signed by hand. Electronic or online signatures cannot be accepted.

Once the petition area is ready to move into the engagement phase and reaches the front of the queue, the city will send a mailing informing residents the area is ready to move forward.

At that time, city staff will create a page on Engage Ann Arbor to share and gather information, concerns and feedback. 

City staff collect and analyze traffic data to inform where to place traffic calming elements for streets with successful petitions.

If the street qualifies, staff determine where calming elements could be installed.

Engineering standards and traffic data determine which treatments can safely and effectively be used.

Residents in the project area have an opportunity to review and provide feedback on the proposed design via the projects Engage Ann Arbor page.

Community support is required for a project to continue, but only data determines where and what kind of traffic calming is installed.

Projects that meet the program requirements may move forward based on their priority, available funding and coordination with other city construction.

A limited number of projects are typically constructed each year.

Stop signs determine who has the right of way at an intersection. They are not used to control vehicle speeds.

Traffic calming focuses on physical changes to the street because signs alone generally have been shown to have very limited effect on vehicle speeds. In addition, most residential streets are already posted for 25 mph limit, lower limits are reserved for specific school zones and areas with playgounds or parking lots.

The best thing to reduce vehicle speed is an effectively designed street that incorporates both physical limitations and psychological cues to slow down drivers, most of which are already present on residential streets. 

Enforcement can be effective in targeted areas, for example in changing driver behavior around crosswalks, or in reducing speeds on higher speed roads that haven't yet been altered to meet slower speed design criteria.  The city's experience has also shown that while a reduction in speeds may happen during an officer's presence, it's a temporary shift.

Requests for targeted speed enforcement can be submitted via the Ann Arbor Police Department's traffic enforcement page. 

No. Closing streets is not part of the traffic calming program and will not be considered.

Street closures are significant changes to the transportation network and create major impacts on neighborhood connectivity, basic city services such as solid waste collection, street sweeping and snow removal, etc. In addition, taxpayers throughout the city and state contribute to the construction and maintenance of our roads and therefore have a right to use them.

The City of Ann Arbor has a dedicated millage and program to identify and fill missing sections of sidewalk, or sidewalk gaps. 

Streets without continuous sidewalks

If a street does not have a continuous sidewalk on at least one side, the types of traffic calming that can be installed are more limited. If traffic data shows that traffic calming is appropriate, the city will generally use painted markings and flexible posts rather than features that physically narrow or raise the street.

This helps avoid creating new barriers for people walking, using wheelchairs or other mobility devices, or otherwise traveling along a street without a continuous sidewalk.

If the street is improved in the future, such as through sidewalk construction, resurfacing or utility work, staff will review the traffic calming at the same time. Traffic calming may be changed, moved, replaced or removed based on the new street design and conditions.