DFD Traffic Issues Criteria

Durham Fire Department Traffic Issues Criteria

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Durham Fire Department Criteria Used to Advise Transportation Traffic Issues

It is in city policy that transportation will solicit input from the public safety departments. The Durham Fire Department recognizes that final decisions on traffic issues are made by the Transportation Department, but the DFD will actively offer advice on traffic issues based on the way traffic issues affect our response. The following are the criteria the DFD will use to advise the Transportation Department.

Curb side parking
City streets in neighborhoods are sometimes used for curbside parking. The DFD would only advise Transportation to limit parking to one side of a street in cases that our personnel advise the DFD administration that they are struggling to pass, or based on fire code that states a need of 20 ft. unobstructed area to pass.

Roundabouts, Speed Humps, Bumps
The DFD would advise Transportation to disallow roundabouts or speed humps/bumps only if it has a dramatic impact on response time or major route to emergency calls. The DFD performance measure on response time is from dispatch to arrival 5 minutes. The DFD has done a study and states that it takes approximately 15 seconds to navigate a roundabout. The Charlotte Fire Department has also done a study and has reported that it takes approximately 8 seconds to cross a speed hump/bumps. If a roundabout or speed hump/bump placement would create an increase of response time from station to incident that would not allow the DFD to meet its performance standard of 5 minutes, the DFD would request Transportation to not allow a roundabout or speed hump/bump to be installed.

A request to disallow a roundabout or speed hump/bumps installment would be based on if the DFD uses a particular route to get to 50% or more emergency calls. If a roundabout or speed hump/bumps were proposed to be in place on a route that was traveled by the DFD to reach 50% or more of a district's call volume, then the DFD would request that a roundabout or speed hump/bumps not be installed.