Several years ago, as a city councilman, I asked why we didn’t free up a police officer for more important duties than hiding behind a screen waiting to catch speeders on Milwaukee Boulevard. My thinking was that a passive reminder to slow down would be a lot less expensive than a full-time patrolman burning gas in an idling prowl car. What I suggested was installing those round palm-sized bumps you see on the road that “growl” when you drive over them.
The idea was poo-pooed by the head of community development, who said growlers eventually come loose and don't have any effect unless you are driving at least 35 miles an hour to create the growler effect.
Silly me. I believed that clap trap. Until, that is, I drove into the Sea-Tac Airport parking garage to pick up a traveler. I was driving about 5 mph when I drove over several rows of those little bumps, felt the vibrations and heard a sound something like a jack hammer.
The flap last year over former Mayor Richard Hildreth’s use of a city credit card and the police staff’s botched attempt to address the council’s concerns about it, stands as another good example of how elected officials should hold feet to the fire from time to time to make sure they are being properly advised.
Anyway, with the ongoing financial pressures on the City of Pacific, and Mayor Cy Sun’s claim that he wants to save money, maybe it’s time to look at speed humps and growlers to create passive restraints on speeders instead of paying staff to raise revenue by hunting and gathering.
A side benefit is that the public, instead of seeing uniformed staff waiting to catch them, would see the city saving money and at the same time reminding them in a gentler way to slow down on a heavily-traveled residential street.
It’s easy to have bad feelings toward a public safety division that builds its empire through fines and forfeitures that have the collateral damage of driving up auto insurance rates, but I’ve never heard anyone badmouth a speed hump.
FYI, this subject has come up before in Council committee discussions. But there are issues -- state and national safety standards for rumble strips call for their use on higher-speed roads without significant bicycle or pedestrian traffic, because they create additional hazards for non-motorized traffic. Valentine-Milwaukee is a designated regional bicycle corridor and doesn't yet have a complete sidewalk network that would reduce the pedestrian impact of rumbles.
ReplyDeleteThere are other passive traffic calming devices that could slow traffic without constant police presence, but they're more expensive than rumbles.
I presume "jputnam" is Josh Putnam, a member of the Pacific City Council. I appreciate the response and clarification from an elected official. Thank you. Given the state of the city's finances at this time, perhaps there is room for further exploration on this subject?
DeleteHello, yes, Josh Putnam here.
ReplyDeleteNot to tie everything back to the current turmoil in City Hall, but I don't think we can really make major changes like this until we have a City Engineer and a Public Works Director again. I'd been discussing traffic calming and "complete streets" issues with the previous Director -- I'm familiar with the basics of some of these approaches, but I know that I'm not a licensed engineer.
("Complete streets" is a catch-all phrase for streets that serve all residents, not just motorists -- safe and convenient pedestrian access, safe bicycle access -- not necessarily bike lanes, but traffic lanes designed to be shared safely by motorists and bicyclists.
A street well-designed for a residential area will encourage drivers to travel at safe speeds without constant enforcement, will provide safe walking spaces for children through retirees, will eliminate obstacles for users of wheelchairs or walkers, etc. All that doesn't have to cost a lot if it's done at the time of construction, but can be a significant retrofit cost.)
Thank you, Josh.
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