Hump back: Ordinance repealed

The Madison City Council has repealed the city's speed hump ordinance, which could clear the way for the removal of humps like these.

The Madison City Council unanimously voted Sept. 13 to repeal the city’s speed hump ordinance and replace it with a traffic calming policy.

City Engineer Gary Chynoweth addressed the council during Monday’s meeting, and he said the ordinance, which was nearly a decade old, didn’t give the city many choices when addressing traffic problems with speed humps or bumps.

“The original speed hump ordinance only allows us one option,” Chynoweth said.

Although there are no current plans to remove speed humps, such as the ones on Church Street, Chynoweth said the new traffic calming policy will give the city the option to either remove or modify existing humps around the city.

“The policy will be more flexible,” Chynoweth said.

Chynoweth said the current humps reduce response time for emergency vehicles, while also unintentionally reducing traffic in areas.

Traffic on Church Street through the historic downtown Madison has decreased from 2,000 to 500 cars each day.

In other cases, the speed humps are spaced out wide enough that traffic can get around them without going over the hump.