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Seminole reacts to curb neighborhood speeders
By MAUREEN BYRNE AHERN SEMINOLE -- For years, residents on 63rd Avenue N have watched cars speed down their street. They say they've tried to no avail to get the city to do something about the problem in their Gem Village neighborhood. "It's a blessing no one has gotten killed," Richard Tilka told City Council members last Tuesday. Help finally has arrived. Last Thursday the city installed two stop signs on 63rd Avenue at Gem Lane, making the intersection a three-way stop. That should slow drivers on the quarter-mile road, said Mitch Bobowski, Seminole's general services director. The speed limit on all residential streets in Seminole is 25 mph. Neighbor Jason Jonatzke says he's worried about people running the stop signs. He says he prefers another method to slow down drivers. "I think speed humps would be the alternative," Jonatzke said. That's unlikely since council members don't believe speed humps are the best solution for traffic problems. Under a newly adopted Residential Traffic Calming Policy, the city is using other traffic-calming devices, such as narrowing roads, installing landscaped medians or erecting stop signs to reduce traffic on neighborhood streets. Opponents of speed humps say they just shift traffic from one residential street to another. They also say they slow emergency vehicles, damage vehicles and drive down property values. Tilka said some of the speeders use 63rd Avenue as a cut-through to and from Seminole Boulevard. At one time, Tilka said, Gem Village and nearby Bay Pines and Carriage Bay neighborhoods weren't connected by a road. But now that the two areas are linked, motorists who live in Carriage Bay can quickly wind their way through Gem Village to 66th Avenue N, which meets Seminole Boulevard. By doing that, they avoid having to drive to 54th Avenue N to reach Seminole Boulevard. Laura Morgan, who also lives on 63rd Avenue N, complained to the council in June about the speeding on her street. Seminole's traffic deputy conducted a study of the area. He placed a "smart trailer," a computer that registers traffic speed and volume, on the street and patrolled the area. Once the information was collected and analyzed, city officials decided the stop signs were needed. "I think it will help a little bit as long as people obey the stop signs," Miss Morgan said. "I've noticed at least one driver go through it. I'm just afraid something is going to happen on that street."
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