Commission approves speed tables to combat cut-through traffic

Decatur’s commission approved the installation of two speed tables on Harold Byrd Drive in the city’s Westchester Hills neighborhood which, it’s hoped, will help diminish an increase in the area’s cut-through traffic.

Although speed studies conducted earlier this year show that 85 percent of the vehicles on Byrd and Maediris Drive are going below the stated 30 mph limit, the sheer number of cars is staggering. On the busiest day tested 2,290 vehicles traversed Byrd and 4,300 on Maediris.

The neighborhood has long been a cut-through for drivers avoiding the intersection of Scott Boulevard and Clairmont Road. But traffic increase, city officials believe, was likely caused by the re-opening last year of Westchester Elementary and the recent expansion of the nearby YMCA.

Cost is $4,000 per table.