Complete removal promptly and safely
Carry out the Commission's August 27 decision and keep residents informed about the method and schedule.
What we are asking for now
The removal decision is a meaningful first step. The next phase should be just as careful and transparent.
Separate removal from replacement
Do not treat the engineer's speed-hump recommendation as an approval. The Commission said replacement is a different decision.
Work together on the next step
Residents and the Commission agree to seek informed neighborhood support before deciding whether to install speed humps or another device.
What we are not asking for
Clarity matters, especially when people may hear “remove the strips” and assume something broader.
We are not asking the City to stop slowing traffic.
Residents want cars to slow down. We are asking for a different tool, not for the safety goal to be abandoned.
We are not saying the Commission acted in bad faith.
The board was trying to make the street safer. That is a reasonable goal for city government.
We are not saying speed humps were approved.
The engineer recommended two possible speed-hump layouts, but the Commission explicitly treated any replacement as a separate future decision.
Why we are asking
We support the goal of slowing traffic. The problem is the noise and vibration experienced by nearby residents every time a vehicle crosses the rumble strips.
The Houston Boulevard strips are raised thermoplastic bars applied on top of the road surface. Every vehicle that crosses them produces a sharp, repeated sound. Box trucks and tractor-trailers produce the strongest impacts, and delivery traffic uses the block throughout the day and evening.
The houses on the first block sit close to the road. Residents report that these effects began after the strips were installed on April 17, 2026.
What the engineer found
The August report answers the central question: this particular rumble-strip installation is not the preferred traffic-calming device for this residential setting, especially where noise is a concern.
The report recognizes both the benefit and the harm
The strips reduced recorded high-speed trips and appear to have reduced cut-through traffic. But the report says the speed data does not warrant rumble strips based on the 85th percentile and concludes that multiple speed bumps in series are not the preferred tool for this local residential street.
The nearest houses are about 55 feet from the strips. The report says transportation guidance indicates a setback of up to 300 feet would be needed for noise to dissipate.
The City's speed data
Before installation, 73 of 21,276 recorded vehicles - 0.34% - traveled at or above 35 mph. After installation, 51 of 56,400 vehicles - 0.09% - did so.
The report treats that reduction as real, while also stating that the data does not warrant rumble strips based on the 85th percentile. That distinction matters: a device can change behavior without being the best tool for the setting.
What a transverse rumble strip is for
FHWA describes transverse rumble strips as alerting drivers to a need to slow down or stop, or to other upcoming changes an inattentive driver may not anticipate. They are placed in the travel lane, perpendicular to the direction of travel.
FHWA gives the typical locations: approaches to intersections, toll plazas, horizontal curves, and work zones. In each case the strip warns about one specific thing, at one specific point.
On Houston Boulevard the strips are being used differently, as ongoing speed management along a residential block. Standard traffic-calming guidance for residential streets generally describes other measures for that purpose, including speed humps, speed tables, raised crossings, chicanes, and narrowing.
Why the noise reaches the houses
The mechanism is not in dispute and is the same for any rumble strip. FHWA explains that a strip has to raise noise inside the vehicle enough to get a driver's attention, that the interior increase correlates with an increase outside the vehicle, and that proximity greatly affects how much neighbors hear.
FHWA's noise fact sheet also makes a point that matches what residents here keep trying to describe: the sound of rumble strips has a different character than ordinary traffic noise, which may heighten annoyance. It is not that the street got busier. It is a different kind of sound.
The same fact sheet notes that no measurement method adequately captures that difference, so methods developed for highway traffic noise are used instead, with attention to peak levels rather than averages. That is worth knowing as the review proceeds.
FHWA also notes that some road agencies simply ban rumble strips in residential areas, and that others exhaust alternative safety measures before considering them.
Peer-reviewed research on transverse strips specifically has measured exterior noise levels and community response near homes, and has developed lower-noise designs in response. This is a studied problem with a literature behind it, not an unlucky outcome.
The usual federal fix is not available here
This is the point we would most like the engineer review to consider.
When longitudinal rumble strips generate too much noise near homes, FHWA's guidance describes moving them - discontinuing them where residences are very close to the road, or shifting them farther from the travel lane so fewer tires strike them.
A transverse strip cannot be moved out of the travel path. Every vehicle crossing it is the entire design intent. So the standard mitigation for rumble strip noise near residences does not exist for this installation, which is part of why the choice of device matters so much in a setting like ours.
Raised and milled strips are different
Milled strips are grooves cut down into the pavement. Raised strips sit above the road surface, so vehicles strike them rather than rolling through them. Houston Boulevard has raised thermoplastic bars.
They can look similar in a photograph and behave quite differently in practice, particularly under box trucks and tractor-trailers. Any comparison to another location is most useful when the product, the setting, and the purpose are genuinely alike.
The engineer's replacement options
The report recommends removal followed by either one properly designed parabolic speed hump near the midpoint of the block, around 3006/3007, or two speed humps at the existing strip locations.
It also discusses speed tables and speed cushions when noise is the major concern, while noting tradeoffs in speed reduction and driver behavior. Road narrowing and a chicane are described as more expensive and potentially disruptive to yards, driveways, and right-of-way.
These are engineering recommendations for the Commission to consider. They are not decisions already made.
How we got here
A short timeline of the installation, resident request, and public process.
The strips were installed. Residents were not notified beforehand and learned about them when they heard them.
Residents raised the noise and vibration at the monthly Commission meeting.
The Commission said it would engage an engineer to examine the installation and possible responses to the noise.
Residents submitted the ten-household petition. The City reported that it had identified an engineer and contacted Louisville Metro Public Works.
The engineering report was presented and the Commission voted 2–1 to remove the strips as soon as the work can be arranged.
Where things stand now
The engineering review and removal vote are complete. Implementation and any replacement decision remain open.
The engineer recommends removal.
The report concludes that the existing configuration is not the preferred device for this residential block where noise is a concern.
The Commission approved removal.
The August 27 vote was 2–1 in favor of removing both sets as soon as the work can be arranged.
Removal timing is pending.
The City discussed a contractor estimate and a possible small removal test, but did not announce a firm completion date.
No replacement is approved.
Speed humps were discussed as the engineer's recommendation, but the Commission explicitly separated that question from removal.
The report is public.
Residents can read the full 23-page engineering evaluation through the link on this page.
Safety remains the shared goal.
Residents appreciate the review and vote, and want the next decision to preserve safer driving without recreating the noise problem.
For the next public discussion
Removal is decided. Replacement is not.
Residents and the Commission agree to work together before any future speed-hump decision. That discussion can compare measurable need, expected speed reduction, noise and vibration, cost, emergency access, and the views of the households most affected.
Share input on next stepsOn the possibility of other streets
At the May 28 public meeting, a commissioner described the installation as “a one year test” and said, “We haven't decided anything on the rest of the city yet.” The commissioner added that, if the City reached that point, it would hold public meetings. That is why residents earlier understood that use on other streets remained possible.
The mayor later said at the July 30 public meeting that whatever is decided for Houston Boulevard will not be applied throughout Houston Acres. We take that clarification as the City's current position.
Who we are
We are residents of the first block of Houston Boulevard. There is no organization or outside funding behind this effort. The site is written and paid for by neighbors who live alongside the strips.
We are not a city publication and do not speak for the City of Houston Acres.