The Planterra Ridge Homeowners Association will pay the full $36,000 to replace speed bumps in its Peachtree City subdivision with less intrusive speed cushions.

The speed cushion, a new design, are seven feet long but gently slope up to and away from the maximum height of three inches off the ground.

Thursday night, the Peachtree City Council was heading towards simply removing the current speed bumps to see if traffic became a problem again. But Planterra HOA President Manny Guerrero said if cost was the main factor, the association would foot the entire bill.

Council voted to allow Planterra to do just that.

Recent traffic studies conducted by the city have shown that the speed and volume of traffic has reverted to levels seen before the widening of Ga. Highway 54 started. After the highway widening began, Planterra residents complained of a high volume of cut-through traffic and fast-moving vehicles, leading the City Council to agree to putting the speed bumps down in the first place.

Councilman Stuart Kourajian said the drop in traffic may be directly attributable to the speed bumps.

In recent months some of the speed bumps have been stolen, but they have all been replaced recently, said City Engineer David Borkowski.

At some of the speed bump locations, drivers were veering off into people’s lawns to avoid the speed bumps, Guerrero said. He also added that the subdivision’s concern is keeping children from being hurt, but he admitted that no children were hurt before the speed bumps were erected.

The speed bumps were temporary devices that can be moved to other locations in the future.

Councilwoman Judi-ann Rutherford indicated she was wary of other neighborhoods asking for speed bumps which were unnecessary.