The letter from Bob McKey raises some thoughtful points and very clearly articulates what, I think, most proponants of the speed hump proposal in our neighborhood feel.   In the interest of continuing the debate, I've responded to some of the points in his letter.  Not surprisingly, we agree that speeding is to be discouraged.  The only question is: What's the right way to do it?
 

Dear Bob,

I realize that your perspective is different because you live right on 38th Street whereas I'm pretty far back on 3rd Place.  I agree with you on some  issues, and as you might expect, I disagree on some others.  First, the points to which I agree.  I think a three way stop at 3rd Ave is a great idea and a good alternative to speed humps.  I don't know why the City would resist putting in a stop there.  They put one at the intersection of 2nd and 37th which is certainly not a thru intersection.  In fact,  there's absolutely no traffic safety reason for one there at all other than to appease the residents of that street.   I'd like to hear a rational explanation from public works as to  why a stop sign can't be placed at 3rd and 38th but can at 2nd and 37th.

Like you, I'd also support other traffic control measures that are less destructive.  I spoke to the departing  dean of architecture at UF yesterday.  He says there are dozens of effective traffic control devices and methods that can be used to curb speeders without resorting to anything so severe as a speed hump.  The problem appears to be either a lack of imagination downtown or an unwillingness to consider anything that might cost an extra buck to install.

I also agree with you that speeding cars can be dangerous and we should be constantly alert to keep our families safe.

Where I must, respectfully, disagree are the following points:

First, I'd like to know by what amount the traffic exceeds the speed limit.  If sonmeone is going 29mph, that's exceeding the speed limit, but it's probably not terribly dangerous.  On the other hand, if the majority of speeders are travelling 45mph, that's quite serious.  And I'm sure that some of the motorists are going 40+, but how many?  If it's just a few, can we do something about them without ruining the road for everyone else?  I'm not prepaired to accept the raw statistic that 80% of the traffic are speeding without some quantification of those figures.  Frankly, I don't trust much of what Brian Kanely says, so I really feel compelled to ask for enough data to make up my own mind rather than rely on the City's interpretation of the figures.  For all I know, cars going 26mph were lumped into that  figure.

Second,  I'd have to disagree with your assessment of the humps on 2nd Place.  I know that the folks on 2nd got the city to agree to block that street off many years ago, but the other neighborhood residents objected loudly enough that the city backed off.  In some ways, the residents got what they wished for because, I find the humps offensive enough that I avoid the street.   As I mentioned, my stock Chevy Camaro with two or more people will not go over them at 5mph without scraping.  Further, they require all of the cars to slow to a speed of 15 mph or less, which is significantly less than the DOT mandated minimum speed limit of 25mph in a residential area.  So, they may have calmed traffic on the street, but they've done so by depriving some of us  tax payers of our quiet enjoyment of that street.  Surely, those who live on 2nd place must have known it was a major entrance to the neighborhood when they moved there, yet they chose to do so despite that drawback. So, in a nutshell,  I really felt like those folks didn't have a very good case for humps because they knew what they were getting when they moved there.  Still, I don't think that they should have motorists speeding by their houses, so the real disagreement is how to handle that problem in the least destructive way possible.

Third, I've seen selective traffic enforcement in action.  We don't have to have a cop on the side of the road 24 hours a day.  Just randomly throughout the week.  Once a few tickets are handed out, there will be a chilling effect on the motorists.  People will remember seeing that patrol car in the neighborhood and they'll automatically slow when they come into the entrance because you can't tell, especially at night, if there's a patrol car sitting between 3rd and 4th place shooting radar.  It will certainly take more than just one appearance of a police car to solve the problem, but if they'll do it just a couple of times a week for a short period, it will work.  It is already used here in Gainesville.  I'm sure you've probably heard mention of the Selective Traffic Enforcemen or S.T.E.P. program.   They usually set up on main roads or near schools, but it can work in neighborhoods, too.  If we try it and it fails, we can always resort to speed humps later.

Fourth, I'm not sure that speed humps do much at all for anyone, except, possibly the one house that's right next to them.  I've watched the cars along the Duckpond obviously become progressively more annoyed by the speed humps as they travel down NE Boulevard.  The more of them they encounter, the quicker they accellerate afterwards, often exceeding the speed limit by a significant amount between humps.  I'll have to admit that I've caught myself getting angry on 2nd Place and zipping through there, way too fast.  And, in the case of younger drivers, they seem to think it's great fun to fly right over them at 30mph without even slowing.  Hey, why not?  It's the parents' car anyway.  I'd read somewhere that speed humps actually increase accident rates.  I think it one place was the study done in Portland and another one done  somewhere in California.  Part of that is because we've taken a dangerous activity like driving and removed the margins for driver error from it.  If the speed humps have calmed traffic on 2nd place, I'd suggest that it's because the traffic count through there is lower than before.  We don't have that luxury on 38th as it is the main street for us.

I'll post your letter on the web page, Bob.  I think it sums up the feelings of those in favor of the humps very nicely.   Thanks again for your response.

Kyle Magrill
afn61094@afn.org