The Hermosa Beach City Council confronted a traffic problem of a different sort Tuesday evening: people wanted things to slow down.
Confronting what they described as an increasingly dangerous streetscape, residents came before the council petitioning for the installation of two speed cushions along a stretch of 16th Street between Pacific Coast Highway and Prospect Avenue. The council sympathized with the residents, but ultimately approved only one of the traffic-slowing devices, citing an existing policy that limits their concentration.
“If all it took to get speed bumps put in was for someone to come and ask for them then we would probably have them on every street in town,” said Councilman Justin Massey. “And I’m pretty sure that’s not what we want.”
Since the installation of a traffic light at 16th and PCH, residents living on and around 16th Street said the corridor has gone from quiet residential area to speedway for commuters, threatening both the tranquility of the neighborhood and the safety of the many children that walk along the street on their way to school. The effort to install speed cushions was the culmination of years of lobbying the city.
Speed cushions, unlike speed bumps, are not made of poured concrete and can be installed and uninstalled. Residents had sought the installation of two speed cushions in an area of 16th Street stretching between Mira and Bonnie Brae streets. The location of driveways, and the relatively steep grade of the area, would mean that the only suitable locations for speed cushions would have been about 220 feet apart.
Backers had the support of about 75 percent of the neighborhood. But according to Public Works Director Andrew Brozyna, the city has several policies that limit that installation of speed cushions: they need to be approximately 300 feet apart, and their installation must be approved by the immediately adjacent residents. Revisions to the policy would have to pass through the city’s Public Works Commission prior to council action.
The purpose of the policy is to give those most affected by the traffic-slowing devices a voice in the matter, said City Attorney Michael Jenkins. While residents opposing the installation of both cushions were in the minority at the meeting, several cited the noise made each time a vehicle passes over one of the speed cushions.
“The policy is a balance between the benefits and detriments of speed humps,” Jenkins said. “One of the detriments is noise. And so those living next to them got the right to object.”
