HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — Some residents on Halsey Avenue in Huntsville say speeding on their street has become a big issue. Now, they’re petitioning the City of Huntsville to install speed cushions to slow down drivers.
Longtime resident Gail Lee told News 19, “we’ve had some near misses on this street.”
Halsey Avenue doesn’t have sidewalks, so people who are taking a stroll or walking their pets have to do so on the edge of the road. Lee said she’s concerned that one of these days a speeding driver might hit someone.
“That’d be all she wrote,” she said.
Lee told News 19 that she’s brought her concerns to the City of Huntsville multiple times in recent years. She said a few years back, the Traffic Engineering Department conducted a traffic survey.
She said the results were eye opening.
“The average speed of the vehicles was 38 miles an hour” Lee said. “This is a 25 mile an hour zone.”
After that, the City of Huntsville installed speed radar signs. However, Lee said, in her opinion, that they are no longer an effective deterrent for drivers.
“It helped for a little while, until I think people realized, it ain’t doing nothing” Lee said.
While News 19 was on scene Monday afternoon gathering video, one driver set off the speed radar going 55 miles per hour, before slowing down.
Lee told News 19 that she’d like speed cushions to be installed, so drivers are forced to slow down.
She recently started a petition to make that happen and went door to door in her neighborhood collecting signatures.
“I had nobody refuse to sign it,” she said. “Everybody was a ‘yes, we’re ready for it’.”
In order to be considered, the City of Huntsville requires that 75% of residents are in favor of the petition, before it can be approved. Lee said when she hand delivered the petition to the Traffic Engineering Department on Friday, she was told that the city would need to notify 9 residents who didn’t participate in the petition.
Lee said she feels like the department is understanding where the residents are coming from.
“I think we are all so glad that the city has finally recognized that we have a problem and I hope that they want to fix it,” she said.
Lee said that while slowing down may seem inconvenient, it could save lives.
“Nobody likes speed bumps, I mean, I don’t like them, but if it will slow one person down, if it will save one person’s life, one pets life, one child’s life or one old person’s life that maybe has stumbled and fell, I mean, it would be worth it to me” she said. “It’s worth it to save somebody.”
She said she understands that the City of Huntsville has a process for safety improvements like these, but that she hopes they can find room in the budget to improve safety for residents.
Also on Monday, the Huntsville Police Department announced a “summer slowdown” campaign urging drivers to “be more aware and slow down.” HPD noted that people need to be especially cautious on “city streets, neighborhoods where people are out walking, biking and driving.”
According to the Huntsville Police Department, speeding is a problem city-wide. HPD revealed that there have been 12 fatal crashes this year, with speed being a “primary or contributing” factor.
HPD told News 19 that between January and May of this year, it issued 2,625 citations and 1,641 written warnings for people exceeding the speed limit by at least 10 mph.
“Enforcement alone won’t solve the problem,” HPD Chief Kirk Giles said. “We must engage with our community to educate drivers on the real risks of speeding, from deadly crashes to the financial and legal consequences they will face” he added.
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