Heated Debate About Speed Humps In Windsor Terrace At CB7 Transportation Meeting

Residents of Windsor Terrace had mixed emotions at the Community Board 7 Transportation Committee meeting Monday night regarding a proposal to put speed humps throughout the neighborhood in an effort to reduce the speed of traffic in the area.

The locations under review, which include Windsor Place, Terrace Place, Sherman Street, Seeley Street, Vanderbilt Street, Prospect Avenue, 18th Street, 19th Street and Kermit Place, were first identified by those who attended the NYC Department of Transportation presentation organized by Councilmember Brad Lander‘s office at PS 130 in January.

DOT representative Jeannette Saunds announced the fifteen locations that have been considered feasible by the DOT for speed humps and outlined what standards the DOT uses to determine feasibility. She emphasized that the DOT will only install the speed humps that the community board votes to support.

Several residents present at the meeting expressed concern about the noise that speed humps would cause and worried that the humps would impede emergency response vehicles.

Saunds said the only restriction on speed humps in regard to emergency vehicles is that they can not be placed on a segment of road directly in front of a fire house, hospital, or other emergency facility.

“We’ve never had a complaint about a speed hump from any emergency services and have actually had emergency teams encourage us to put in more speed humps,” said Saunds.

Several members of the community with young children were upset that other residents were hesitant to support speed humps. “Someone’s life is so much more important than noise,” said one parent. “I have a child; I want cars to stop going so fast down the street.”

Resident Mary Jane Monahan, whose son was killed by a drunk driver on 19th Street in 2002, spoke in favor of putting in speed humps. “I don’t think there’s a perfect solution, but deterrents are necessary, speed humps are necessary.”

Other residents asked why the DOT wasn’t putting in more traffic lights or stop signs. Saunds explained that there are a specific set of guidelines from the State that have to be met in order to put in a traffic light. Speed humps, on the other hand, have fewer requirements.

Many residents said that they’d like to see studies on the effectiveness of speed humps on traffic calming before making any decisions. The DOT agreed to make the information they have regarding effectiveness available.

Another meeting with the CB7 Transportation Committee will be held in September to continue the discussion regarding speed humps. All residents are encouraged to attend. If you are unable to attend, you can weigh in via email at communityboard7@yahoo.com.

You can also track all the requests made to DOT for Windsor Terrace and Kensington through Councilmember Lander’s office here.