What is Traffic Calming?
Traffic calming is a process involving community members and city staff to address safety needs on neighborhood streets.
What is a safe street?
The City of Harrisonburg considers safe streets as streets that facilitate all types of mobility and encourage appropriate vehicle speeds. The intended result of safe streets is a reduction of the risk of crashes, injuries, and fatalities involving drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists.
The Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program (NTCP) Guide has made various updates relating to:
- Process
- Community Effort
- Thresholds & Criteria
- Equity Considerations
- Clarity about what warrants traffic calming
Specific changes include a new online traffic calming request form, transitioning to a more data-driven scoring system, expanding the criteria that determines traffic calming need, streamlining the number of steps required, and posting the scores of eligible requested streets each year.
Explore the 2025 NTCP Guide and Traffic Calming FAQs
- 2025 NTCP Guide [357.4 KB]
- Traffic Calming FAQs [110.2KB]
View the 2026 Staff Recommended Traffic Calming Study Scenario
- Staff Recommended Traffic Calming Study Scenario [252.7KB]
- 2026 Staff Recommended Traffic Calming Study Scenario Map [2.1 MB]*
*Possible adjacent streets as determined
Submit a Traffic Calming Request
Street requests submitted before August 1, 2026 will be processed and scored in the 2027 round.
To request Team Up to Slow Down Yard Signs or the Public Works speed trailer, please contact James Polhamus, Public Works Transportation Planner at 540-434-5928 or email James.Polhamus@harrisonburgva.gov
To request police radar or enforcement of speeds on your street, please contact the Sgt. Phillip Aaron Wonderly, Harrisonburg Police Department, at 540-437-2600 or Philip.Wonderley@harrisonburgva.gov.
Current Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program Efforts
- Central Ave
This section is for Central Ave between Pleasant Hill Road and South Avenue and will be updated with public outreach materials related to the traffic calming study effort.
Resources
- Map of Study Area [1.3MB]
- Open House | October 1, 2026 | 4:00-6:00pm - Public Works Building, 320 East Mosby Road
- Open House Materials: Following Open House
Contact Information
- Public Works Department: James Polhamus, Public Works Transportation Planner, at James.Polhamus@harrisonburgva.gov or 540-434-5928
- 3rd Street (East)
This section is for 3rd Street between Virginia Ave and Liberty Street and will be updated with public outreach materials related to the traffic calming study effort.
Resources
- Map of Study Area [1.1MB]
- Open House | September 29, 2026 | 4:00-6:00pm - Lucy F. Simms Center, 620 Simms Ave
- Open House Materials: Following Open House
Contact Information
- Public Works Department: James Polhamus, Public Works Transportation Planner, at James.Polhamus@harrisonburgva.gov or 540-434-5928
- Founders Way Neighborhood
This section is for Goldfinch Drive, Founders Way (west of Oriole Lane), and Blue Ridge Drive (north of Meadowlark Drive) and will be updated with public outreach materials related to the traffic calming study effort.
Resources
- Map of Study Area [1.3MB]
- Open House | September 29, 2026 | 4:00-6:00pm - Lucy F. Simms Center, 620 Simms Ave
- Open House Materials: Following Open House
Contact Information
- Public Works Department: James Polhamus, Public Works Transportation Planner, at James.Polhamus@harrisonburgva.gov or 540-434-5928
Previous Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program Efforts
- Sunset Heights Neighborhood
This section is for the Sunset Heights Neighborhood and will be updated with meeting summaries, maps, and information related to neighborhood traffic safety concerns and efforts to address them.
Resources
- Traffic Calming Plan [707KB] - June 2021
- July 28, 2015 City Council Agenda and Presentation [video] - Traffic study request
- Additional Resources
- Research on Four-Way Stops (multi-way stops, all-way stops)
Contact information:
- Public Works Department: James Polhamus, Public Works Transportation Planner, at James.Polhamus@harrisonburgva.gov or 540-434-5928
- Northeast Neighborhood
Proposed Intersection Safety Improvements
Public Works staff and the Transportation Safety and Advisory Commission have identified changes to improve safety at the intersections in the neighborhood, with a focus on those intersections that have had the most crashes over the last seven years. Information about the changes that have been completed and changes that are proposed can be found in this document:
(Archived) English: Intersection Safety Changes 2022 [1.4MB]
(Archived) Traffic Study Results, December 2017 [3MB]
Contact information:
- Public Works Department: Jakob zumFelde, Public Works Planning Manager at 540-434-5928 or Jakob.zumFelde@harrisonburgva.gov
- Portland East Neighborhood
This section is for the Portland East Neighborhood and will be updated with meeting summaries, maps, and information related to neighborhood traffic safety concerns and efforts to address them.
- (Archived) Traffic Study Results, April 2018 [2.2MB]
Additional Resources
- Research on Four-Way Stops (multi-way stops, all way stops)
Contact information:
- Public Works Department: Jakob zumFelde, Public Works Planning Manager at 540-434-5928 or Jakob.zumFelde@harrisonburgva.gov