Patch Question: Speed Bumps as Traffic Control?

While the City of Long Beach this year posted several stop signs in new locations throughout the city, some residents have called for and received speed bumps on their blocks as way to slow down motorists.

William Johnson, a resident of West Broadway, asked the City Council to install speed bumps on East Pine Street in the North Park neighborhood.

“We just want you to look at [that] block too,” Johnson said at the Aug. 2 meeting. “Especially with the high rate of kids that are down there.”

Johnson noted that Head Start, Christian Light Baptist Church, Martin Luther King Center, McDonald’s and a park are on or near East Pine. “There’s a lot of flow going through there, so we would ask that you seriously think about putting some bumps on that block,” he said.

He pointed out that a motorist recently hit a young pedestrian at a neighboring intersection at Riverside Boulevard and East Fulton Street.

Council President Thomas Sofield Jr. explained the procedure for having speed bumps installed on Long Beach streets: two-thirds of the residents who live on a block must sign a petition in favor of speed bumps, after which the city would need further approval from the residents who live directly in front of where the bumps would be installed.

Here’s Patch’s question: What do you think of using speed bumps as a form of traffic control on city streets?