Peachtree City's

experiment with speed humps won't begin until spring at the earliest.

The city plans

to erect temporary speed humps at the Ga. Highway 74 South soccer complex

and at Kedron Fieldhouse. But those areas won't be busy again until the

weather gets warmer, noted City Engineer Troy Besseche.

At both sites,

the traffic flow will be studied to determine if the humps could become

an effective traffic-slowing tool for residential streets.

Besseche said

the results of the study would be brought before the city council so it

could determine whether or not the speed humps are feasible.

"We're

planning to evaluate the effects of the temporary speed humps and go back

to council," Besseche said.

Speed humps

run from 14 feet to 22 feet in length and are used to slow down traffic,

Besseche said. The devices would be limited to residential roads and would

not be used on collector roads, the engineer added.

"A speed

hump is significantly longer than a speed bump," Besseche said.

Longer speed

humps are less jarring to vehicles, according to information from the

Institute of Transportation Engineers. Some successful hump designs are

between three and four inches off the ground and 22 feet in length.

That length

includes six-foot ramps on either side, giving enough room to hold the

entire wheelbase of most passenger cars, according to the ITE.

Those humps

also tend to be the most effective as judged by the ITE.

Standard-size

humps are generally 12 feet in length and have a parabolic construction.

The test speed

humps the city is considering using would be constructed of recycled plastic

and rubber, Besseche said. Actual speed humps, however, are made out of

asphalt.

Gwinnett County

is successfully using speed humps in approximately 100 neighborhoods.

They were limited to subdivision streets instead of primary response routes

for emergency vehicles.

The catch with

the speed humps as a solution to slow down motorists comes from a funding

angle. The Georgia Department of Transportation has indicated it may not

approve street repair funds from the Local Assistance Road Program on

streets that have humps.

In September,

the City Council passed a traffic complaint resolution program where many

traffic complaints from residents must be addressed by the city engineer.

So far, Besseche has worked on three different citizen traffic complaints

about speed and volume on roads in The Marks, Kedron Hills and Ardenlee

subdivisions.