Town of Garner Traffic Calming Program

The Town of Garner Traffic Calming Program allows residents to request traffic studies to determine eligibility for installing traffic calming devices, if warranted, on town-maintained residential streets. Major collector and thoroughfare streets, as well as any streets maintained by the NC Department of Transportation, are not eligible under the Traffic Calming Program.

Primary eligibility/criteria:

  • Street must be a local or minor collector residential street (no more than 2 travel lanes). 
  • Street must also have direct access to residences (i.e. driveways).
  • Street must meet both the minimum speed and volume criteria for eligibility

Speed - 85th percentile speed exceeds posted speed limit by greater than or equal to 8 mph

Volume - Minimum 600 vehicles per day (vpd) for local streets and minimum 900 vpd for minor collector streets.

The Town uses three Tiers of traffic calming devices. 

  • Tier 1 (Low Cost, Low Impact) - typically include passive treatments, such as traffic signage, pavement striping, and/or police enforcement measures.  These treatments can be addressed by Town forces without a neighborhood petition.  This allows the work to be done quickly, at low cost, and with minimal impact to area residents.
  • Tier 2 (Mid Cost/Mid Impact) - typically include vertical treatments , such as speed humps.  These treatments are intended for use on residential streets <=35 feet from edge of pavement to edge of pavement and typically require minimal to no impact outside the pavement area since the curb and gutter and roadway shoulders are not altered by the treatment installation.
  • Neighborhood Homeowner's Associations (HOAs) may submit an Application to Request Traffic Calming Measures and approve Tier 2 measures without a neighborhood petition (if the study meets eligibility requirements). 
  • Non-HOA neighborhoods require an initial application by 5 neighborhood residents.  If project meets eligibility requirements, then a petition must be completed with two-thirds of all households within the impacted area voting in approval of the project.  
  • Tier 3 (High Cost/High Impact) - typically include horizontal treatments and are intended for use on residential streets >35 feet from edge of pavement to edge of pavement and may involve higher impacts outside the pavement area such as modification of curb and gutter, shoulders, storm drainage system, and adjoining private properties.  Tier 3 measures include raised medians, intersection bulb-outs, chokers, neck-downs, chicanes, raised intersections, and mini-traffic circles. All Tier 3 treatments require (2) neighborhood meetings and a formalized petition that meets a minimum threshold of two-thirds (2/3’s) of all households within the affected area in support of the traffic calming treatment.

The Town of Garner Traffic Calming Policy provides the complete guidance on the Town's Traffic Calming Program.

Most residential streets do not have enough volume and/or speeds to warrant traffic calming devices so enforcement may be the best option. Residents may contact the Garner Police Department at 919-772-8810 with enforcement requests.