PONTIAC, Mich. – The city of Pontiac is installing more than 100-speed humps on neighborhood streets and parks to get drivers to slow down.
Mayor Tim Greimel said the project has been in the works for the past year. He said it’s been a concern of residents for years now.
“We’ve tried to increase our traffic enforcement through the sheriff’s office, but we also want to put out speed humps so drivers are forced to slow down,” said Greimel.
The budget allows for the city to fund five to six-speed humps on 21 neighborhood streets.
“It comes out to a little more than $500,000 to fund these speed humps, and depending on the experience we have with them, if it shows results and people do, in fact, drive more safely, I think it’s likely we will seek additional funding to put down more speed humps on more streets,” Greimel said. “We relied on city council people to select those streets within each of their city council districts that they believed merited these speed bumps the most.”
Neighbors on streets selected for the project told Local 4 that it’s about time something more is done to combat speeders.
“It’s a miracle, it’s amazing,” said Salome Nunlee-Bey. “I’ve been complaining for years because of the speeding up and down the street. Children are out here playing, and children run out the street if you’re not watching them.”
Another resident, Linda Green, said, “People come around that bend so fast (in the winter), and they come up in my yard, knock down my tree.”
In the short amount of time the speed humps have been in, both neighbors said they see a difference.
“Oh yes, we love them,” Nunlee-Bey said.
“I’m really happy that they’re doing something about the speeding, and I’ve noticed since they put the speed humps in, they’ve been here for about two weeks, people are slowing down,” Green said.
Greimel said all the speed humps will be installed within the next few weeks.
Locations speed humps will be placed include but are not limited to:
- Linda Vista Dr.
- Baudette Park
- Galloway Lake Park
- Murphy Park
- Perry Park (Kettering Ave., Emerson Ave.)
- Seminole Hills (Menominee Rd.)
- Buena Vista Heights (Carlisle St., W. Fairmount Ave., W. Cornell Ave.)