Date: 5/7/2025
What is the City proposing and why?
Over the years, the Brent Meade Homeowners Association have brought concerns about traffic safety in various parts of the neighborhood to the City of Brentwood on numerous occasions. Requests for the addition of stop signs or speed bumps on Jones Parkway have been consistently rebuffed due to the nature of Jones Parkway as a connector road critical to emergency traffic. In the wake of the 2023 fatal accident, the City recommended (and carried out) the "striping" of Jones Parkway, as well as the addition of bike lanes, as a traffic calming measure.
Because many neighbors have found this measure to be ineffective or insufficient, the Brent Meade HOA Board of Directors initiated additional dialogue with the City in 2024. As part of our ongoing collaboration, the City completed a traffic study to determine whether any of the intersections on Jones would be candidates for roundabouts, the City's recommended traffic calming measure. The City found that three intersections on Jones are candidates for “mini” roundabouts: Gasserway Circle, Brent Meade Boulevard, and Heritage Drive. The City also acknowledged that the future opening of the Windy Hill Park might be expected to increase traffic on Jones Parkway.
To move forward, 2/3 of all residents within 1000 feet of each intersection must use a City provided website to submit a "petition" requesting a roundabout. As a significant number of neighbors have raised concerns about the city rules as to who will be eligible to vote (petition) for each roundabout. the HOA has decided to hold a neighborhood-wide vote as the next step. Results from a vote in which all residents are able to express their preferences will be used to determine whether there is sufficient neighborhood interest in the roundabouts to proceed to the step in which the City sponsored vote (petition) begins.
Additional information:
Will there be a meeting for us to discuss the proposal?
The Brent Meade HOA board hosted a meeting on May 5th. The following materials from the meeting are available:
Will we be building 0, 1, 2 or 3 roundabouts?
The number of roundabouts constructed depends on the number approved by nearby residents. However, City engineers advise that a single roundabout would be significantly less effective than two (or three).
Which homes are part of the group able to petition for the mini roundabout at Gasserway Circle and Jones?
- Brentmeade Blvd - 9101
- E Cambridge Ct - 9101, 9102
- Englishwood Ct - 9008
- Gasserway Cir - 1012, 1013, 1015, 9000, 9001, 9002, 9003, 9004, 9005, 9006, 9007
- Gasserway Ct - 9100, 9102, 9103, 9104, 9105, 9106, 9107, 9108, 9109, 9110
- Jones - 999, 1001, 1003, 1004, 1005, 1006, 1007, 1010, 1012, 1013, 1015, 1016, 1017, 1019
Which homes are part of the group able to petition for the mini roundabout at Brent Meade Blvd?
- Brentmeade Blvd - 9013, 9017, 9020, 9021, 9024, 9025, 9026, 9030, 9101, 9103, 9104, 9107, 9110, 9111, 9113, 9114, 9115, 9116, 9117
- Fox Run Dr - 9174
- Gasserway Cir - 9006
- Gasserway Ct - 9100
- Jones - 815, 816, 912, 916, 917, 999, 1001, 1003, 1004, 1005, 1006, 1007
- Saddlebow Dr - 9166
- Shenandoah Dr - 907
Which homes are part of the group able to petitions for the mini roundabout at Heritage Drive?
- Fox Run Drive- 9174
- Heritage Drive - 9100, 9101, 9102, 9103, 9104, 9105, 9106, 9200, 9201, 9202, 9203, 9204, 9205, 9206, 9207, 9208
- Hunterboro Drive - 9210 , 9211
- Jones - 725, 726, 727, 729, 801, 802, 803, 812, 813, 814, 815, 816
- Saddlebow Drive - 9166
Which homes will be invited to petition for more than one mini roundabout?
- Brentmeade Blvd - 9101
- Fox Run Dr - 9174
- Gasserway Cir - 9006
- Gasserway Ct - 9100
- Jones - 815, 816, 999, 1001, 1003, 1004, 1005, 1006, 1007
- Saddlebow Dr - 9166
My home is located such that I would frequently drive through all three roundabouts, if all three were built. Why don't I get to vote on any (all) of them?
The City ordinances set the standard for voter selection based on a 1000 foot radius, from each proposed site. Although the ordinance suggests that it might be possible to increase the voting base, HOA discussion with the City as to the details of how this could be effectively accomplished have yet to yield a viable proposal. Since every home that chooses not to vote at all, will be counted as vote against the proposal, it is important to limit voters to those with an actual interest.
The HOA has determined that the best way to ensure that all interested Brent Meade residents can be heard is to hold a non-binding vote of the entire neighborhood. Based on the collective preference information developed in this fashion, the HOA will determine whether or not to proceed to the step of asking the City to initiate formal voting. More information about the neighborhood vote will be forthcoming.
Will school buses and emergency vehicles be able to navigate the mini roundabouts?
Yes, the roundabouts are designed specifically with full-size school buses in mind.
Will long semi-trucks (e.g. full-sized moving trucks) be able to traverse these 20' diameter center roundabouts on Jones Pkwy if plants and rocks are placed in the centers?
Concerns have been raised that the roundabout centers need to be 'fully mountable' and thus plain concrete, in order to ensure that long trucks will not drive across the lawns of homes fronting the roundabouts. When this question was posed to the City, we received this response:
“The third-party traffic engineer has evaluated the turning radius for long trucks. They have assured us that a semi-type truck and trailer will be able to make the turn to the right (¼ of the circle) or going straight (½ of the circle) without issue, assuming the driver knows what they are doing. However, we did discuss some moderate concern related to a left-turn about ¾ of the circle. Given the rather infrequent traffic of vehicles this size combined with the overall traffic volume, we suspect that a skilled driver would determine it necessary to cautiously proceed to the left of the circle, essentially only making a 90 degree turn to the left. Of course, they would have to carefully look around to determine it is safe to do so, in a case-by-case circumstance.”
It may also be worth observing that every house in the neighborhood has at least one route both to and from Concord Rd that either avoids all of the proposed Jones roundabouts or that requires traversing only the manageable 1/4 or 1/2 portions of the circle.
Will the roundabouts encroach on the property of the four corner homeowners’ properties?
No, the mini roundabout fits within the footprint of the current intersection pavement. The city affirms that it will not be necessary to encroach on the easements of homeowners bordering the roundabouts.
What were the results of the traffic assessment at each of the three intersections?
The posted speed limit on Jones Parkway is 30 miles per hour. The assessed speed and volume of traffic was found to be:
| Intersection |
85th Percentile Speed |
Average Daily Traffic |
| Gasserway |
44 mph |
1421 vehicles |
| Brent Meade |
40 mph |
1039 vehicles |
| Heritage |
39 mph |
380 vehicles |
How will roundabouts help with traffic calming?
Some neighbors have expressed concern that reckless teens will simply whip around the circles at high speed, undeterred by the traffic circles. While it is certainly possible that the most irresponsible of young drivers may behave in this manner, the effectiveness of traffic calming is based in slowing down the large majority of vehicles that passthrough Brent Meade at unsafe speeds, not just the extreme outliers. The City traffic study revealed that 85% of the traffic at the proposed locations travels 10-15 miles per hour over the speed limit. Traffic circles target these drivers with the goal of bringing speeds more closely in line with the 30mph posted limit. City, state and national guidelines have reportedly found roundabouts to be effective for this purpose.
What will keep reckless drivers from simply driving across the center of the roundabout?
The addition of plantings, decorative rocks and signage should help to direct traffic (reckless or otherwise) in the appropriate direction
Will the intersection be a patchwork of asphalt after the mini roundabout is complete?
No, the entire intersection will be removed and replaced with fresh asphalt in support of the new mini roundabout.
Will crosswalks be painted on Jones and/or the crossroads that enter the roundabout?
No, the city only paints crosswalks where sidewalks exist on opposite sides of a road. However the Roundabout specification does call for the painting of stop lines on the side street approaches.
How will the project of beautifying the mini roundabouts be funded?
The city will fund all road paving, signage and a paved center circle. The city will work with the Brent Meade HOA on optional upgrades, paid for by the HOA, to make the roundabouts more attractive.
The preliminary estimates for adding attractive landscaping and hardscaping to each roundabout center is $10,000 per approved roundabout. Brent Meade HOA would need to initiate a voluntary, one-time fundraising campaign from all neighborhood residents to cover the costs. Brent Meade HOA would request a voluntary contribution of $50 from each homeowner for each approved roundabout, up to a maximum of $150 per homeowner if all three roundabouts are approved. Should that fundraising effort fall short, the landscaping design will be simplified.
What will be the recurring costs of each roundabout?
The Brent Meade HOA is currently working with landscapers to develop plans for each roundabout. In advance of those plans, the HOA can share an expectation that the recurring maintenance fees are expected to be minimal due to the small size of each island and the planned use of solar lighting.
What will each roundabout look like?
The HOA Board has chosen not to expend resources on accurate renderings in advance of the vote. However, these AI rendered mock-ups can provide a loose idea of the design objective.
How will the appearance of the mini-roundabouts compare to other roundabouts in Brentwood?
The proposed mini-roundabouts would have a 20 foot diameter, which is roughly 1/2 the width of the 50 foot roundabouts on Crockett road and 1/3 the size of the Annandale roundabouts.
| Overhead mock-up, to scale |
Example of a 25' roundabout |
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I would prefer that stop signs or speed bumps be installed. Can we do that instead?
No, Jones Parkway is legally defined as a collector street by Brentwood. Over more than a decade of asking, the city has consistently maintained that neither additional stop signs nor speed humps are permissible on Jones Parkway. Speed bumps/humps are a problem for emergency vehicles. Traffic studies have found that the volume of traffic on Jones is insufficient to warrant additional four way stops.
For more information, please review section V of the Brentwood traffic calming policies published in this document.
What will happen to the existing stop signs?
Brent Meade will remain a four-way stop regardless of whether or not a roundabout is constructed at the Jones intersection. The other two intersections, which currently have stop signs on only the side streets, will become four-way yields with new yield signs installed on all four corners.
Have we considered digital speed radar placed on speed limit signs?
A speed trailer, or the digital speed radar detectors, is a Tier 1 traffic calming solution available only a temporary measure and has been tried several times in our neighborhood. As with having police stationed in the neighborhood to ticket speeders, the operative word is temporary. Mini roundabouts are the city's preferred Tier 2 solution to traffic issues once Tier 1 options have been exhausted, as is the case on Jones Parkway.
How will the new Windy Hill Park impact traffic on Jones Parkway?
The new park will have a main entrance on Old Smyrna road with a secondary entrance in Brent Meade, at the end of Jones Parkway. Parking for nearly 50 cars is being constructed at the Jones Parkway entrance.
I have a question not answered here. Who can help me?
Please send additional questions to admin@brentmeade.com
