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Monday, December 31, 2007

Lynn Haven Residents Concerned About Speeders

Some Lynn Haven residents fear for their children’s safety along a busy neighborhood road.  They want something done before they say an accident happens.

In this email to News 13, Krystal Hicks writes in part: “this road is so dangerous we can’t even go for a family walk and our kids don’t even have a chance at riding their bikes.”

In this Problem Solver report a closer look at the issue and what can be done about it.

Colorado Avenue may not look dangerous all the time but resident Krystal Hicks says that can change certain times of day mainly in the afternoons.
She says, “traffic is horrible...they speed up and down this road constantly.  All of us on this street want speed bumps or something.”

Resident Carolyn Owens says school buses seem to speed above the posted 25 mile per hour limit.  Owens says, “In the afternoon, they come 40 to 50 miles per hour sometimes.  My husband and I come and stand in the middle of the road for them to slow down.” I asked Owens if she ever sees police writing tickets on the road.  She says, “not on this part of the road I don’t.”

But, on the afternoon of our visit, there was a Lynn Haven police officer further up the street watching traffic.  Owens says, “We got the speed limit signs.  Clearly 25 (mph).  Most cars are coming from the country club...we need at least speed bumps to slow them down.”

Lynn Haven City Manager John Lynch says the city is aware of the concerns.  According to Lynch, “this is not a new issue though and I am glad you brought this to our attention so we can advise people what we have done.  It goes back about a year and a half.  We responded by putting up temporary speed humps on Colorado.  What is interesting, the actual speed was only reduced by less than one mile per hour.  The people who travel that road did more complaining after…than they did before they went up.”

However, now, speed bumps are not an option.  Lynch says, “Unfortunately, for Minnesota and Colorado, those are collector streets.  You don’t want emergency vehicles having to traverse over speed humps with someone in a critical situation.”

So what does the city say is the best solution?  According to City Manager Lynch, “traffic enforcement...we sent officers out and when people see an officer and get 100-plus dollar ticket...that slows them down.  We’ve issued a lot of those.”

Lynch tells me that speed patrols have been enhanced on Colorado Avenue over the last week and violators are being ticketed.  Hopefully, the police visibility will deter those who wish to speed on Colorado Avenue.

If you live in Lynn Haven and have a question about getting speed humps on your street, the city has prepared a policy you need to check out.

You can call the Lynn Haven Public Works Department at 265-5989 to get more information on the speed hump procedure.



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