Traffic Calming

Sandy Springs’ convenient location within the metro Atlanta area can sometimes negatively impact neighborhoods when residential streets are used as alternate routes by drivers attempting to avoid congestion on major roadways.

Traffic calming techniques may help restore neighborhood streets by encouraging motorists to drive more slowly, drive more carefully, and, in some cases, divert to more appropriate routes.

Traffic calming techniques are generally classified as either physical devices or psychological devices.

Physical devices interrupt the flow of traffic by changing the street’s direction or by breaking the roadway into smaller visual units using techniques such as chicanes, splitter islands, roundabouts, mini-roundabouts, and traffic circles.

Psychological devices change the visual and psychological feel of a street through the use of different surface materials, vertical landscaping, or narrowed lanes to create a more pedestrian-friendly environment. These changes signal to motorists that they are no longer traveling on a major roadway but are instead entering a shared environment used by pedestrians and bicyclists.

• City of Sandy Springs Traffic Calming Policy (PDF)
• Traffic Calming Application and Petition (PDF)