Carillon Drive in Ellicott City needs traffic calming measures to reduce the speed of vehicles on this through street that has no sidewalks and is used by our children to walk to school and bus stops, as well as by families living in this neighborhood of single family homes. Vehicles frequently exceed the speed limit on this road, including large delivery trucks, utility trucks, and SUVs. 

This is an issue neighbors have brought to the County’s attention several times over the last 20 years. Most recently, a neighbor submitted a ticket for traffic calming measures (reference number 11060666); however, Howard County, again, did not properly address this issue, and thus, our children’s safety remains at risk.

In response to the aforementioned ticket, Howard County temporarily installed a speed camera in front of the stop sign at Carillon Drive and Old Annapolis Road. However, the camera was not properly placed. The camera was installed by a stop sign and at a cross section where people are turning from Old Annapolis Road onto Carillon Drive. A vehicle would not be at full speed at the camera’s location. Furthermore, the speed camera was in full sight with the speed of the vehicle displayed, which allowed drivers to be alerted to the camera and therefore slow their vehicles down. The County responded that the cars were not going fast enough to justify traffic calming measures, failing to address this safety issue. 

Secondly, the study only focused on the speed of the vehicles, giving less attention to the fact our children have to share this road (a through street with no sidewalks) with vehicles because the street serves as a bus stop for the many children attending Centennial Lane Elementary School and is used by walkers attending Burleigh Manor Middle School and Centennial High School. These children also use the bus stops on Carillon Drive and walk to/from school on Carillon Drive at peak traffic hours.

According to a U.S. Department of Transportation  Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) research project, documented in An Analysis of Factors Contributing to "Walking Along Roadway" Crashes: Research Study and Guidelines for Sidewalks and Walkways (FHWA-RD-01-101), providing walkways that are separated from travel lanes can help to prevent up to 88 percent of crashes involving pedestrians walking along (not crossing) roadways. In addition to reducing crashes that involve walking along roadways, sidewalks can reduce other types of crashes, such as head-on, sideswipe, and fixed object crashes. Roadways without sidewalks are more than twice as likely to have pedestrian crashes as locations with sidewalks on both sides of the street.

FHWA recommends accessible sidewalks or pathways along both sides of streets and highways, particularly near school zones and transit locations, and any other locations with frequent pedestrian activity. Similarly, studies show that lowering speed can reduce fatality rates by up to 40 percent and a recent analysis by the National Transportation Safety Board concluded that speed is a contributing factor in fatal crashes at about the same frequency as drunk driving. 

Carillon Drive is a through street, a street with no sidewalks, and a street that our families and children use for leisure, for waiting for the bus, and for walking to school. Any moving vehicle is a threat to our children, but especially vehicles moving in excess of the 25 mph speed limit.

According to Bottlinger Law, LLC: Pedestrians are killed three times as often when moving from a 25 mph zone to a 30 mph zone. By that logic, if you increase your speed only 5 mph, you’re raising the chances of a fatal accident threefold.
If you hit a pedestrian at 20 mph, 5% will die. If you hit a pedestrian at 30 mph, 45% will die. At 40 mph, 85% will die. If you hit a child, the likelihood of death is higher still. “Local” or residential streets have a fatality rate over two times higher per mile driven than highways.

Several neighbors have expressed concern over the years about the lack of traffic calming measures on this street. Many of these concerns, like our own, are prompted by all-too-close encounters with speeding vehicles coming in close contact with our children, pets, etc. This is a risk that can be easily mitigated with the appropriate calming measures.

Howard County needs to take action by implementing traffic calming measures on Carillon Drive — whether that’s installing sidewalks to improve safety or, at a minimum, creating a school calming zone with speed humps, to protect our kids who walk our street to attend school. 

We demand Howard County implement traffic calming measures on Carillon Drive to ensure the safety of our children and families.