Speed Survey

PCF Family,

This post contains a lot of useful information to help you better understand the speed study performed in our neighborhood and the speed calming program in Gwinnett County. Take your time and review things carefully. There are many links to resources which, when clicked, will open in a new browser tab so you don’t lose your place on this page. At the bottom you can sign up to help bring speed humps (not bumps) to Pebble Creek Farm.

Intro:

In October 2020, after nearly being hit by a speeding driver while exiting their driveway, a concerned household contacted Gwinnett County to conduct a speed study in our subdivision. We will refer to them as the study sponsors.

In June 2021, residents on Pebble Bend Drive and Cobble Creek Lane received notices from the County regarding a speed study that was conducted in the neighborhood. If you need a reminder, a copy of that letter is here. As a result of the speed study, our subdivision qualifies for the installation of speed calming devices.

While the Pebble Creek HOA Board has no official position on the installation of speed calming devices, we are residents here too and offer this page to provide information about the study, answer commonly asked questions about the program, and provide guidance for next steps.

The Program:

The speed calming program is administered by Gwinnett county. A brochure for the program is linked here and it provides detailed information about the program as well as contact information to reach the county with questions regarding the program. The full process used in the speed calming program is documented here. We highly recommend reviewing both of these documents.

The Study:

In October 2020 Gwinnett County conducted a speed study on Pebble Bend Drive and Cobble Creek Lane. The results of that study were provided to the study sponsors in June 2021. We have linked the study results below and provided an excerpt in the next section.

East / West traffic on Pebble Bend Drive

North / South traffic on Cobble Creek Drive.

What the data says:

Pebble Bend Drive – 1416 cars sampled

Of all the traffic sampled on Pebble Bend Drive:

• Most of the speeding occurs between 2-8 PM
• 33 MPH is the 85th percentile speed on Pebble Bend Drive – meaning that 85% of all traffic is traveling at 33 MPH or less
• 66.6% (943 of 1416 cars) traveled in excess of 25 MPH
• 10.8% (153 of 1416 cars) traveled in excess of 35 MPH
• 0.9% (13 of  1416 cars) were going over 45 MPH

Cobble Creek Lane – 661 cars sampled

Of all the traffic sampled on Cobble Creek Lane:

• 35.2 MPH is the 85th percentile speed on Cobble Creek Lane – meaning that 85% of all traffic is traveling at 35.2 MPH or less
• Most of the speeding is evenly distributed throughout the day with a slight increase between 12-5 PM
• 81.4% (538 of 661) traveled in excess of 25 MPH
• 18.5% (122 of 661) traveled in excess of 35 MPH
• 0.8% (5 of 661) traveled in excess of 45 MPH

In Conclusion

What can we derive from this study? Pebble Bend Drive has the higher rate of traffic and subsequently a greater number of speeders. Cobble Creek Lane doesn’t have as many speeders but the cars are traveling faster there. On both roads data demonstrates that a majority of vehicle traffic is greater than our neighborhood speed limit which poses safety concerns for our residents on these streets. Additionally, this data was collected during October of 2020. At that time there was a reduced amount of traffic on our roads due to pandemic quarentines. If the same study were performed today, then it stands to reason that both traffic and speeding would see marked increases.

The Petitioning Process

Due to the results of the study, the neighborhood qualifies for speed calming devices to be installed in the locations on this map of the subdivision. However, there is a petition process for each road to determine if the residents  want this solution.

This means that there are two petitions – one for Pebble Bend Dr. and one for Cobble Creek Lane. The subdivision map illustrates which houses can sign the petitions and which houses will not have a vote. Homeowners on Cobble Creek Lane cannot sign the Pebble Bend Dr. petition and vice versa. Furthermore, this proposal letter contains the petition details and required percentage of homeowners on each road that must approve the change via petition. Additionally, there are very strict requirements that must be followed in the petitioning process. These petition guidelines explicitly state what is required.

Next Steps

Now we’ll begin the petitioning process. All residents on Pebble Bend Drive and Cobble Creek Lane who would like to participate in gathering signatures for the petitioning process are encouraged to sign up for an upcoming meeting at the pool pavilion to coordinate the details. Please sign up by 10/20/21.  While you have to live on Pebble Bend Dr. or Cobble Creek Lane to vote on the issue, you don’t have to live there to volunteer to help!