Speed Humps Coming to Birch Avenue

The residents of Birch Avenue have a message for the community at large: Slow down.

An overwhelming majority of homeowners on this suburban street that winds from UMBC to downtown Arbutus have signed a petition for the county to install “traffic calming” devices—commonly known as speed humps—to slow down vehicles on their roadway.

A speed hump is a low ridge composed of asphalt placed across the flow of traffic designed to encourage drivers to slow down, while a speed bump is taller and more rounded--typically located in parking lots and designed to make the driver come to a complete stop before proceeding over, according to traffic engineers.

“The speeding here is horrendous,” said “Big Ed” Luers, a retired state trooper who lives on the 1300-block of Birch. “We’ve been trying to get the county to do something about it since the 1970s.”

For years, residents on Birch have complained about cars that cut through the neighborhood, using this street behind Arbutus Elementary School as a shortcut to around the one-way stretch of Poplar Avenue.

“There have been beaucoup vehicles hit” by cars zipping down the narrow, curving street, Luers said.

Within weeks, something will finally be done about it.

Baltimore County has a program for residents with concerns about neighborhood traffic speed and safety. A variety of options are available-- including traffic circles, speed humps, pedestrian refuge islands, or narrowing driving lanes with curb extensions--for streets that are eligible for traffic calming, according to Department of Public Works officials.

In order to be eligible for traffic calming, a street must be a local roadway through a residential neighborhood that is at least 1,000 feet long, according to DPW.

Additionally, at least 75 percent of the residents on the street must sign a petition in support of traffic calming--including the owner of the home in front of which a traffic island or speed hump will be located, according to DPW.

Pete Kriscumas, community liaison for councilman Tom Quirk, said that in the case of Birch Avenue, more than 95 percent of the homeowners on the street agreed to traffic calming.

"All but two or three people signed the petition," Kriscumas said.

DPW spokesperson David Fidler said that traffic engineers have drawn up plans for four speed humps to be located on Birch Avenue, which will be presented to homeowners this week.

Birch Avenue was also recently between UMBC and the MARC Halethorpe Station.

Fidler said that the Birch Avenue speed humps should be in place within weeks.