Traffic
Neighbors in Richmond Co. subdivision facing speed bumps on road to slow down drivers
Posted: 5:33 AM Apr 13, 2012
Reporter: Trishna Begam
| Click to play video |
News 12 This Morning / Friday, April 13, 2012
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Augusta's Twin Oaks neighborhood seems pretty safe, but some say speeding drivers can make it dangerous.
Our cameras were rolling when a car rolled right through a stop sign.
"Because our streets are straight, you can get a lot of speed and there are no obstacles to slow you down," said David Young.
Young moved into the neighborhood 30 years ago, and with more people moving into the area, he's noticed more careless drivers.
"Most cars travel anywhere from 45 to 60 mph," Young explained.
The posted speed limit is 25 and 30 mph, depending on the street you are on, but even those signs can be hard to see through overgrown bushes.
Patrica Kelly, another neighbor in Twin Oaks added, "We are having people speed; we had a a child get hit on a bicycle right up the street from me."
That child is OK, but neighbors like Kelly also want the speeders to slow down.
"A lot of them cut or avoid the light and come through here," Kelly said.
Young said the signs aren't working, so they would like to see some speed bumps.
But Major James Griffin with the Richmond County Sheriff's Office said these might not help.
"Some people, they go over just as fast as they normally would," he said.
The process for putting in the speed bumps can take time. First, the neighborhood has to make a request to its city commissioner. Then traffic engineering does a traffic study to make sure the road meets the requirements. Finally, a petition can be started.
"One of the biggest issues is the cost factor; they are not cheap to put in," Griffin said.
It's money that engineering says is not in the city's budget. If the petition did go through and neighbors were willing to to fund the project, they'd be assessed a special fee monthly for the speed bumps.
Traffic patrols are already present in the area, but Richmond County officers say resources are still low. An officer cannot be there at all times. If you see something, you can call and they'll come address the problem, but on some occasions it may be too late by the time they get out there.
Send Story to a Friend
Send to Facebook
Share to TwitterSearch:
Gray Television, Inc - Copyright 2002-2012 - Powered by Gray Interactive Media