The DeKalb County Board of Commissioners on Jan. 28 approved a substitute agenda item to begin the county's 90-day petition process for traffic calming on Clifton Road between Ponce de Leon Avenue and North Decatur Road. The petition, if successful, would allow residents to hold a binding vote on installing speed tables and related measures across a 1.5-mile stretch of roadway that links Emory/CDC areas to neighborhoods.

The vote followed more than an hour of public hearing testimony from residents and petition organizers. Doug Rollins, who identified himself as the petition initiator, said his group followed the countys codified traffic-calming process for more than two years and collected initial signatures indicating neighborhood support. "We started that process over two years ago. We have followed that process to the letter," Rollins said, urging commissioners to let residents demonstrate support by petition.

Opponents said the plan as designed would harm emergency response and impose unwelcome traffic impacts. William Helms, who described himself as a near-49-year resident of Clifton Road and a longtime health-care worker, said speed tables could add seconds to ambulance response times and cause pain to patients being transported. "If the patient is under cardiac arrest, he has three to five minutes to make it to the hospital," Helms said.

Supporters and opponents disputed technical points: petitioners and county staff said the traffic-calming design uses 22-foot-long speed tables (not smaller humps) and cited a 2011 county study that estimated roughly three seconds of delay per table for emergency vehicles. Opponents asked for additional professional study to examine effects on Emory University Hospital traffic and ambulance routings.

County staff told commissioners the substitute had been revised to remove two parcels owned by homeowners' associations, leaving 122 parcels eligible for the petition, and to add one additional speed table on Clifton Ridge. Staff recommended approval of the substitute dated Jan. 28, 2025.

Commissioner Michelle Long Spears, whose district includes the street, said her office had held meetings with both sides and that the petition process is the countys established method for resolving neighborhood traffic-calming requests. "This is the traffic calming petition process, not necessarily the project itself," she said, and added that she was in support of moving the petition step forward so residents could vote.

After discussion, the board approved the substitute that starts the 90-day petition process. The board noted the petition process itself is separate from final design or installation: if the petition succeeds, the county will return with a vote on installation; if approved and installed, measures must typically remain in place at least one year before a new petition could be filed to remove or change them.

The county also said alternate calming treatments exist (for example, speed cushions) and that transportation staff is beginning a broader review of the traffic-calming programwhich has not been substantially updated in decades. Several commissioners and staff said they expect additional study and outreach, including the potential for new design alternatives, before final installations.

What happened next: the board approved the substitute motion to begin the petition process. The motion was made on the floor during the public hearing and approved by machine vote; the transcript does not record individual yes/no tallies.

Community impact: the petition affects residents of Clifton Road and nearby neighborhoods that use the street as a cut-through to Emory and Midtown. Supporters said the measures will protect walkers, children and older adults; opponents cited emergency-response risks and asked for more study of alternative calming measures.

The county will now run the 90-day petition process. If enough valid signatures are gathered within the 90 days, the matter moves to a neighborhood petition vote under county rules; if the petition vote succeeds the board would then consider implementing the approved calming measures. The design and final installation remain subject to subsequent engineering review and budget availability.

"We started that process over two years ago," petition organizer Doug Rollins told commissioners. "We have followed that process to the letter, and now we respectfully ask this board to let us demonstrate the support of over 65% of our neighbors."