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Wesley Neighbors
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Photo: USDOT |
Making Our Neighborhood SaferTraffic safety has been a major concern to Wesley Neighbors since inception. Wesley Neighbors is one of many Knoxville neighborhoods that has been seeking relief from scofflaws who speed through neighborhoods, run stop signs, pass over double-yellow lines, and run over mailboxes, road signs, trees, and bushes. The neighborhood sought relief through the West Hills Community Association from 1989 to 2000. The need to strenuously advance the traffic-calming pursuit was one of several reasons Wesley Neighbors formed in 2000. In 2000, Wesley Neighbors inspired the City of Knoxville Engineering Department to study traffic flows in the neighborhood. The Engineering Department recommended a series of physical traffic-calming devices in 2001, but the manner in which the city conducted its survey prevented the neighborhood from meeting the stringent two-thirds requirement. Wesley Neighbors continues to seek physical traffic-calming devices for its busier streets. In 2004, it engaged the East Tennessee Community Design Center to help prove to the City of Knoxville that the required consensus existed in this neighborhood. After the Design Center backed away from helping neighborhoods seek traffic calming, Wesley Neighbors participated in the City Council Traffic Calming Committee from spring through autumn 2004. While the City of Knoxville discusses ways to implement traffic calming in its neighborhoods, Wesley Neighbors urges the Knoxville Police Department to enforce traffic laws in the neighborhood. On December 1, 2004, Wesley Neighbors mailed a formal letter to the Police Department formally requesting increased enforcement under the City's new traffic-calming plan. The official response to our written request for traffic enforcement was "when funding is released." The official response from the mayor to release the funds was "we are working on a city-wide plan." Monitoring Traffic in Our NeighborhoodOn January 9, 2005, volunteers from the Wesley Neighborhood took to the streets to personally remind motorists of the need to drive safely in this residential neighborhood. Twenty-two of our neighbors, including children and seniors, reminded motorists of the 30-mile-per-hour speed limit and the need to drive safely by standing in front yards and driveways and holding up signs and posters. Motorists actually slowed down for us. Volunteers enjoyed the activity because they were personally doing something positive about the problem. Eight volunteers showed up despite bitter cold the following Sunday to monitor traffic at the intersection of Wesley Road and Stockton Drive.
Join the Fun and Make Your Neighborhood Safer!Traffic-monitoring will be more successful when more neighborhoods join the fun and hold their own events. Simply stand by the roadside holding cardboard signs saying "Speed Limit 30," and "Please Slow Down." Stand at intersections with stop signs and hold signs saying "STOP." We designed the signs and had them printed at Kinko's for about $3 each. The sign files are available for your use, and you can design your own signs if you like. Traffic-Monitoring Tips
By neighborhoods working together, we can all help make Knoxville a safer city to live, work, raise families, and retire. Best of luck! Wesley Neighbors Request Traffic CalmingAPRIL 7, 2005. Members at our April 4 meeting voted unanimously to begin a neighborhood traffic-safety process under the City of Knoxville's new 10-step plan. It was announced by Mayor Haslam in February and explained at our April 4 meeting by Assistant Traffic Engineer Bill Cole. Members believe the neighborhood can be safer and traffic should be studied for this purpose. Accordingly, a formal letter requesting the Engineering Department Direct to begin the process for our neighborhood will be mailed by the end of this week. As the process proceeds over the next few months, all Wesley neighborhood residents will have full opportunities to participate in this important community decision. The full 10-step process is available from the City of Knoxville website. View our request letter to the Knoxville Engineering Department. City of Knoxville Implements Traffic-Calming ProcessMARCH 7, 2005. Wesley Neighbors was informed of the City of Knoxville's new traffic-calming process in a letter dated February 22 from Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam. The process, which is based on City Council's Traffic Committee report explained below, lays out 10 steps that neighborhoods must follow to demonstrate a need for traffic calming in the first place and sufficient community support in the second place. Wesley Neighbors members voted at its March 7 meeting to form a traffic committee and to study the new process and decide how or whether to proceed.
City Council Approves Traffic Committee ReportNOVEMBER 23, 2004. Knoxville City Council unanimously approved the recommendations from its Traffic-Calming Committee, which discussed solutions to Knoxville's neighborhood traffic problems for six months. The report recommends a three-pronged approach: engineering, enforcement, and education. It also recommends a process for implementing these approaches fairly among the city's neighborhoods that seek traffic relief. Traffic-Calming LinksLearn more about traffic calming from these authoritative sources: Federal Highway AdministrationTraffic Calming Library Traffic Calming Net Traffic Calming Org |
PHOTO GALLERY Jennifer Huskey  Linda Stack  Lisa Maddox-Baker  Jenny Roberts  Bradley Roberts  Bill Stack  Vic Ilagan with baby Zach  Jenny Roberts and Jennifer Ilagan Photos by Jack Creed |
Wesley Neighbors Community Association
916 Wesley Road, Knoxville Tennessee 37909-2663 USA
865-558-6280, e-mail@email.com