Speed Humps
"Speed Humps" are sloping humps, about four feet wide, extending across the width of the road, that are supposed to require that cars slow down to 20 mph in order to cross them safely. When the COH installs speed humps,they also install signs on the street, and on cross streets indicating that 20 mph speed humps are on the street. None of these streets had 20 mph speed limits prior to the installation of speed humps.
The speed humps in Forest Cove are the result of residents making application to the City of Houston. After making an application, the COH does a traffic survey to determine if the humps are "justified", and require the signatures of a minimum number of residents on the speed hump boundaries.
The FCPOA does not authorize or approve the speed humps. There is not any community input or interaction concerning the placement of the speed humps except by the residents requesting them, and their immediate neighbors.
As of 8/30/98, three streets have completed speed humps in Forest Cove;
As of 5/19/98, additional humps were planned and pending or unfunded. Since then, the controversy over speed humps, in the City of Houston as well as in Forest Cove, has caused the COH to reconsider future construction. Status as of May is as follows;
Paper: Houston Chronicle
Date: SAT 07/25/98
Section: A
Page: 29 MetFront
Edition: 3 STAR
Criticism of street speed humps drives calls for major revisions
By JULIE MASON
Staff
With the city's speed humps still such a contentious issue in many Houston
neighborhoods, two City Council members are calling for significant revisions
to the 3 -year-old program.
"I just don't think the public supports it," said Councilman Rob
Todd. "There was one street I know of where not one resident asked
for speed humps, yet the city put them in. If that's not government out
of control, I don't know what is."
Todd and Councilwoman Jean Kelley have sent letters to Mayor Lee Brown and
the Public Works and Engineering Department, seeking specific changes in
the city's program.
Todd said two subdivisions in his district are contemplating legal action against the city to remove unwanted speed humps, often called speed bumps. He is asking the city to suspend all speed hump construction outside of Beltway 8.
The master-planned communities of Kingwood and Clear Lake, both of which are located in Todd's districts, generally feature winding roads and lack the cut-through traffic problems the speed humps are designed to address, he said.
Kelley, meanwhile, represents the Memorial area, where some residents also are unhappy about the program.
"I think in general the opinion is not too favorable," said
J.E. Hansford, president of Memorial Hollow Citizens Inc. "Some people
say they are too high, some people say they are too low. Basically, they
slow down traffic, and in my opinion we need to reduce the traffic."
Kelley wants to require individuals asking for speed humps to petition their
neighbors for support. Only with the support of 75 percent of property owners
on the affected block could the city proceed with the evaluation process
for speed hump construction.
In addition, Kelley said individuals should only be allowed to ask the
city for a speed hump on the streets where their property is located.
"It would be a much friendlier process," Kelley said. "It
would ensure the city is placing speed humps where they are truly wanted."
Since the program began in 1995, the city has installed about 1,700 speed humps throughout Houston, said Susan McMillan, division manager in the Public Works and Engineering Department.
McMillan said only about 50 percent of the requests the city receives
fit the criteria for a speed hump - which is generally a persistent problem
with speeders on residential or cut-through streets.
Of the 50 percent deemed eligible, only about 50 percent of those are eventually
approved for funding, McMillan said.
"I know some people believe we are just putting them up anywhere and everywhere we want," McMillan said. "Believe me, we are not."
City officials recently began the process of reviewing the program, and
could come forward with proposed changes in the early part of August.
One of the issues being looked at is concern about the impact the humps
are having - or could pose - to fire and ambulance service. McMillan said
public works officials are meeting with Fire Chief Lester Tyra to address
those concerns.
Currently, an individual can request that the city study the need for
a speed hump , and thereby initiate the process. McMillan said the city
follows up with a study of the problem and an evaluation of the proposal,
including a sense of support in the targeted neighborhood.
But there is no requirement that a certain percentage of residents within
any designated area formally sign off on the installation of speed humps.
Todd said he wants a new requirement that the civic association where a speed hump is under consideration be given a clearly defined role in the process, to ensure the plan is supported by a majority of neighbors.
"I would like to allow them veto power over these projects - they live in the area and are closer to the issue," Todd said.
McMillan countered that there are several obstacles to such a requirement - including the overlapping jurisdictions of some civic groups and also those streets that may be considered for speed humps that are not within an area with an organized civic group.
"The neighborhood aspect has always been important to us, and is a heavily weighted portion of the program," McMillan said. "But essentially we are not legally able to delegate authority over the geometric features of the street to the will of the people."
The city sends every civic association in Houston a list of all the speed hump requests deemed eligible for consideration, when the projects are considered twice a year. McMillan said that is generally the time for such groups to get involved in the process.
Bill Charles, president of the Brook Forest Community Association in Clear Lake, said one day the city's speed humps appeared in the neighborhood.
"This came about as a total surprise to the rest of the community," Charles said. "The bumps appeared, and as a result of that, traffic has been avoiding Brook Forest Drive, and now they just come down other streets."
Copyright notice: All materials in this archive are copyrighted by Houston Chronicle Publishing Company Division, Hearst Newspapers Partnership, L.P., or its news and feature syndicates and wire services. No materials may be directly or indirectly published, broadcast rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed in any medium. Neither these materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use.
Paper: Houston Chronicle
Date: WED 08/19/98
Section: A
Page: 24
Edition: 3 STAR
OVER THE HUMP /Speed hump ought to improve installation process
Staff
They are but gentle rises in the roadways, but they have raised the ire of legions of Houston drivers. They are the approximately 1,800 speed humps that have been installed since 1995 to deter speeding motorists. The rules regarding speed hump installation are now under Public Works Department scrutiny - and rightly so.
The humps can be useful, but their installation on various Houston streets
has been controversial. Many people do not care for the raised sections
of street - wider and more gently sloping than the more familiar speed bump
- because of their nuisance quality. Some believe they cause automobile
damage over time. There is also fear that the humps delay the more timely
arrival of emergency vehicles in times of need. Others complain that humps
only divert traffic problems onto other streets. And there is some question
about whether braking just before the hump damages roads, necessitating
costly street repairs.
But the loudest, harshest, most frequent complaints seem to come from homeowners
who say the first they knew their neighborhood would have a speed hump was
when they saw it in the street.
On Aug. 24, the city will hold a public hearing on speed humps in the George
R. Brown Convention Center. Rule revisions under consideration include limiting
streets' eligibility for speed humps, heeding police and fire department
recommendations before placing humps and requiring that all homes on a street
be contacted for a yes, no or neutral petition signature.
Making it harder to get speed humps makes sense. The more difficult humps
are to have installed, the less likely the city will have to bear the expense
of returning to remove them. Tighter rules and doing a better job canvassing
residents on humps will force city traffic planners to make wiser decisions
about spending limited road funds.
Copyright notice: All materials in this archive are copyrighted by Houston Chronicle Publishing Company Division, Hearst Newspapers Partnership, L.P., or its news and feature syndicates and wire services. No materials may be directly or indirectly published, broadcast rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed in any medium. Neither these materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use.
Speakers come down on both sides of hump / Viewpoints sharply divided at city hearing
By MATT SCHWARTZ
Staff
If there was any question how Houstonians feel about speed humps, Monday night's hearing on revising the city's program made it clear: some hate them, some love them.
About 120 people signed up to speak about them at the George R. Brown Convention Center, and they seemed equally divided on the issue.
"The government is not responsible for you staying off the streets. You are," Joan Alford of the Coalition for Free Streets half-shouted to the crowd. "This street hump program is making private streets out of public roads."
Alford called the speed hump program "deeply, deeply flawed," citing a 1 1/2-mile road in her neighborhood that she said has six stop signs, two traffic lights and 10 speed humps.
"This is not a street," she told city Public Works and Engineering Department officials.
"This is an obstacle course. And you did it."
But Mark Leger, vice president of the Woodland Heights Civic Association, said neighborhood residents with whom he has talked applauded the speed humps.
"A couple even volunteered to repour our speed humps if they are removed," Leger said. "Prior to speed humps, we had many dead animals, and we couldn't get out of our driveways in the morning and evening."
The comments and complaints were recorded by the department officials, who convened the four-hour hearing to get comments on proposed revisions that would tighten the city program, making it harder to get speed humps put in and providing a way to remove them.
The humps were installed to reduce speeding on neighborhood streets and eliminate cut-through traffic by forcing drivers to slow down or risk damaging their cars. Nearly 1,850 speed humps have been installed at a cost of $2.7 million, Public Works Director Jerry King said.
Revisions being considered by the department:
Streets with an average volume of only 5,000 vehicles over 24 hours would be ineligible to get speed humps. Currently, streets used by as many as 8,000 cars a day can qualify for them.
Owners of all lots on a street would be polled on installing a speed hump . Currently, only residents are asked.
Emergency services, such as fire and ambulance groups, may disqualify roadway segments as primary emergency service routes. Emergency routes are not now considered.
"We the staff have not formed an opinion on speed humps," King
told the crowd.
If so, he and the other Public Works employees present were the only ones
in the room who claimed to be neutral.
Janice Haddican, whose 4-year-old daughter was killed by a speeder, said she supports the speed humps on her Clear Lake-area street. The traffic that used to come down her street is now diverted to a nearby major thoroughfare, she said.
"This gives the kids a little more freedom and the parents a little more peace of mind," she said.
Robert Kennedy, who lives on Gulf Meadows a block off Telephone, said
99 percent of the residents of his street signed petitions requesting a
speed hump , which they got.
"Now, we don't have half the traffic," he said. "It is one
of the best things to ever happen to our neighborhood."
But Otto Glade, who lives in the west Memorial area, complained that an eight-block-long street in his neighborhood has seven speed humps and that he has never been asked whether he wanted any.
"That's overkill," Glade said. "I feel like I'm being
humpificated. We're having humpification without representation."
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by Houston Chronicle Publishing Company Division, Hearst Newspapers Partnership,
L.P., or its news and feature syndicates and wire services. No materials
may be directly or indirectly published, broadcast rewritten for broadcast
or publication or redistributed in any medium. Neither these materials nor
any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and
non-commercial use.
May 18, 2000, 8:45PM
Speed humps issue divides subdivision
By RAD SALLEE
Copyright 2000 Houston Chronicle
The Forest Cove Property Owners Association meeting turned bumpy.
The rough spot on the agenda: speed humps.
Although the pavement mounds are described in city public works jargon as "traffic calming" devices, they often have the opposite effect on residents' feelings.
Few are neutral about speed humps. Many families in neighborhoods with heavy pass-through traffic and few sidewalks call them a godsend.
To others, they are a suspension-destroying, bone-jarring nuisance.
The Forest Cove association elected new directors at the meeting Wednesday night, and Vicki Flake -- a self-described strong supporter of speed humps but an equally strong supporter of fire protection -- was voted out.
At issue were five speed humps that city crews abruptly removed from Forest Cove Drive on May 5.
The idea was to smooth what Assistant Fire Chief Robert Britt calls "a major running route" for vehicles from the newly reopened Fire Station 104 on Forest Cove Drive near Hamblen Road.
Britt said the station's four shift chiefs agreed that the asphalt mounds would damage emergency vehicles or slow them down.
Another seven humps were about to be removed from Walnut Lane on May 8 for the same reason, but alarmed residents asked City Councilman Rob Todd to intervene, and the work was postponed.
A spokeswoman for Todd, who represents the Kingwood area, said he was surprised that no one with the city had notified him of the planned removal.
The usual, and cost-saving, procedure, the spokeswoman said, is for humps destined for removal to remain until the street is overlaid during normal maintenance. But this was not scheduled on the two streets for several years.
The city ordinance does not require waiting for the next overlay. It simply says humps may be removed "for any cause" or "if any unforeseen problems occur."
Britt said the Fire Department is not insisting that the humps be removed from Walnut Lane. But if they stay, he said, a nearby parallel street without humps must become the emergency route.
"If the taxpayers who live in that area can give us an alternative solution, we'll listen to them," Britt said. "But I understand they're divided."
Forest Cove is a comfortable subdivision in far north Harris County.
It and Kingwood, its younger but larger neighbor, were unwillingly annexed
by the city of Houston in 1997.
Since then, the two subdivisions have generally seen each other as sharing
the same boat. But the speed hump issue has involved the city in what is,
in part at least, a dispute between them.
People on both sides downplay this aspect, noting that residents of both subdivisions shop at the same stores, send their children to the same schools, share many of the same civic concerns -- and use each other's streets.
But for many years, some motorists going home to Kingwood, especially
its Trailwood Village neighborhood, have taken a short cut through Forest
Cove's residential streets.
The backdoor route avoids the often heavy traffic at Kingwood Drive, the
main entrance to Kingwood, by taking an earlier exit from the Eastex Freeway
and following Hamblen along the north bank of the San Jacinto River.
From there, one can weave north and east through any of several streets, including Forest Cove Drive, but all these routes converge at Walnut Lane, where a single bridge crosses a drainage channel into Kingwood.
Some Forest Cove residents are also incensed that on April 17, the city
removed three-way stop signs at Palmetto and Cypress, an intersection on
one of the short-cut routes.
The signs were removed, they said, at the request of one Kingwood resident
without consulting Forest Cove residents who live near the site.
When the volume of traffic grew dangerous several years ago, Flake said, Forest Cove resident Linda Gunther petitioned the city for speed humps.
Gunther, since deceased, "walked the street with her husband and got 100 percent signatures" in favor of the devices, Flake said.
The humps on Forest Cove Drive were installed in May 1998 from Hamblen north to Mustang Trail.
Those throughout Walnut Lane were installed a month earlier with approval of 33 of the street's 34 homeowners, said resident Donna Sitton.
"Our No. 1 point was safety," she said, noting that the neighborhood has joggers, bike riders, people walking their dogs, disabled people, children and the elderly.
"There have been numerous wrecks, with people ending up in ditches and culverts," Sitton said. "As far as I know, no one has been killed, but if someone is, that is too late."
The danger is especially acute, Flake said, because Forest Cove does
not have sidewalks.
Of course, not everyone agrees about speed humps.
"Speed humps should be illegal," said Forest Cove resident Harvey McCraw. "A street is for the whole community, not just for the people who live on it.
"We're taxpayers, and a public street should be a thoroughfare I
can go down at the posted speed limit."
Copyright notice: All materials in this archive are copyrighted
by Houston Chronicle Publishing Company Division, Hearst Newspapers Partnership,
L.P., or its news and feature syndicates and wire services. No materials
may be directly or indirectly published, broadcast rewritten for broadcast
or publication or redistributed in any medium. Neither these materials nor
any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and
non-commercial use.
