City of Cleveland's speed tables program reduces speeds in neighborhoods, report says.....Mayor Justin Bibb comments

CLEVELAND, Ohio- The City of Cleveland on Thursday released the results of the speed table pilot program that was initiated last summer.

Speed tables are midblock traffic calming devices that raise the entire wheelbase of a vehicle to reduce its traffic speed. They are longer than speed humps and flat-topped, with a height of 3–3.5 inches and a length of 22 feet.

Across Cleveland's ten pilot locations, average speeds were 7.8 miles per hour slower after speed table installation, and over 77 percent of respondents to the resident survey indicated support for more speed tables across the city, the report says.

“We continue to hear from residents who are concerned about speeding in their neighborhoods and we take these concerns very seriously,” said Mayor Justin M. Bibb, who took office in January of 2022 and is the city's fourth Black mayor. “I am encouraged by the results of the speed table pilot, and we will continue to curtail this dangerous behavior through physical traffic calming and data-driven solutions to create safer streets.” 

The program is an effort to slow traffic on primarily residential roads with documented speeding issues in alignment with the city’s Vision Zero initiative, which aims to eliminate serious injuries and deaths from crashes on Cleveland roads through clear and measurable strategies.   

The city announced the speed table pilot in June of 2022, installed the initial speed tables in the fall, and released a survey in February 2023 to capture resident opinions and experiences. In addition to resident comments, pre- and post-speed data were collected on pilot and pilot-adjacent streets to determine the effectiveness of the pilot.  

In the most recent round of proposals for American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) resources, Mayor Bibb requested $3 million as part of the ‘Back to Basics’ fund to support additional speed table installations and other multimodal and safety improvements. The ‘Back to Basics’ proposal is currently under review by Cleveland City Council.  

“As we move into the next phase of this work, we are continually taking in resident reports of issues and concerns and collecting traffic data to inform our response,” said Cleveland’s Senior Strategist for Transit and Mobility Calley Mersmann. “This is not a one-size-fits-all approach. We are aligning feedback and data with proven methods to slow traffic and improve safety street by street across our neighborhoods.”  

To read the full speed table pilot evaluation report and for further information on the City’s neighborhood traffic calming efforts, visit www.clevelandohio.gov/TrafficCalming.  

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