A speed hump warning sign on Claybourne Street in Boston, where the city’s deployment of speed control infrastructure has drawn complaints from drivers.
Photographer: David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
All Hail the Humble Speed Hump
These simple, cheap traffic-calming devices are both effective and wildly popular with (most) residents. Here’s why more cities are going all-in on speed humps.
You can find lots of things on the streets of Cambridge, Massachusetts: an abundance of bike lanes, shops hawking Harvard merch, and empty Sam Adams bottles. But you won’t find the raised, rounded protrusions of asphalt that are widespread throughout many other municipalities.
“We’ve never done speed humps in Cambridge,” said Brooke McKenna, the city’s transportation commissioner. “We’ve gotten so many requests, and we’ve always said, ‘I’m going to refer you to our traffic calming program.’” There, staff consider full-fledged roadway overhauls, which can take years to implement.