Traffic Calming
The City of Essex Junction has a formal process for reviewing traffic safety concerns and deciding where traffic calming measures should be installed. This process is outlined in the Essex Junction Traffic Calming Manual, which was adopted by the City Council on December 17, 2025.
What is traffic calming?
Traffic calming is the addition of physical changes to streets that naturally slow drivers and improve safety for everyone, including people walking, biking, and driving. Examples of traffic calming include:
- Speed humps or speed tables
- Curb extensions (also called bulb-outs) that narrow the roadway
- Raised crosswalks
- Chicanes or lane shifts that break up long, straight travel paths
Not every treatment is appropriate everywhere. City staff select options based on street type, traffic speeds and volumes, safety data, and neighborhood context.
How to request traffic calming
If you have concerns about traffic safety on a specific street or at an intersection, you can ask the City to evaluate it for traffic calming. Requests can be submitted in any of the following ways:
- Submit a SeeClickFix report through the City website
- Call (802) 878-6944
- Email admin@essexjunction.org
- Visit the Essex Junction Municipal Offices
(2 Lincoln Street, Essex Junction, VT 05452)
When submitting a request, please include the street name, an approximate address or intersection, and a brief description of the concern.
What happens after you submit a request?
City staff review each request using the evaluation process in the Traffic Calming Manual. This includes reviewing existing data such as traffic speeds, volumes, crash history, and nearby land uses. If a location meets the policy’s scoring thresholds, the City may collect additional data and move the request forward.
For higher-scoring locations, the City will:
- Host a public discussion at a Bike/Walk Advisory Committee (BWAC) meeting
- Consider community input and local support
- Evaluate potential traffic calming options
- Recommend pilot or permanent treatments, as resources allow
Some projects may begin as pilot installations using temporary materials like paint, flexible posts, or signage. This allows the City to test how a design works before deciding whether to make it permanent.
Important things to know
- Traffic calming can only be installed on City-owned roads.
- Requests are evaluated using a scoring system designed to prioritize locations with the highest overall risk, need, and potential safety impact.
- “Keep Kids Alive Drive 25” cones are not part of the current traffic calming program. See the placement rules below.
Keep Kids Alive Drive 25” cones
The City no longer distributes “Keep Kids Alive Drive 25” cones as a part of the traffic calming program.
Cones already in the neighborhood may continue to be used, as long as they meet the following conditions:
- Place cones adjacent to the edge of pavement, never in the travel lane or on a sidewalk.
- Cones are allowed only on local residential streets. Do not place cones along arterial roads including Pearl Street, Main Street, Maple Street, Park Street, Lincoln Street, or River Street.
- Do not place cones within 250 feet of a signalized intersection.
- Do not place cones in a marked parking space.
- Do not place cones in front of a driveway or anywhere they interfere with entering or exiting.
- Remove cones from the right-of-way between December 1 and April 1 for winter maintenance.
The City of Essex Junction and the Essex Police Department may remove any cone that does not meet these conditions, interferes with maintenance of public infrastructure, or creates a safety hazard.
Learn more
For detailed information about how locations are evaluated, scored, and prioritized, as well as a full list of traffic calming tools, see the Essex Junction Traffic Calming Manual.