The City of Gainesville is committed to improving traffic safety through its Vision Zero initiative, which aims to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries while creating safer streets for all users.
When traffic concerns are reported by neighbors, city staff perform an evaluation of each location to determine the extent of the issue and to determine if speed enforcement and/or roadway modifications may be needed. While not every report results in physical changes to a roadway, each concern is thoroughly reviewed.
Each speeding concern along city-owned streets is evaluated. (If a roadway is not within the city’s jurisdiction, the concern is referred to either Alachua County or the Florida Department of Transportation.)
City staff perform a detailed review using traffic speed data and crash history in the surrounding area, and all speeding complaints are shared with GPD for field validation, targeted enforcement and patrol observations.
The city considers actions based on several factors, including analysis results, severity of the findings and prioritization of available resources.
The scope of actions can range from immediate actions, such as increased speed enforcement and implementation of signage, to more extensive and costly improvements that involve physical modifications, such as the addition of crossings or intersection reconfiguration, among other changes.
The location remains under monitoring for up to six months using additional traffic data. If speeds increase in the future, the location can be reassessed.
The city discontinued the use of speed bumps/humps due to impacts on emergency vehicles and emergency response times.
In 2014, the Gainesville City Commission reaffirmed the moratorium on speed humps following support by an advisory group involving city staff from Public Works, Transportation, Gainesville Police Department and Gainesville Fire Rescue.
Speed tables can be considered as a traffic-calming measure when: