Durham Neighbors Locked in Battle Over Speed Humps
DURHAM (WTVD) -- Speed humps are set to be removed from one Durham neighborhood, which has caused a neighborhood feud.
Some say the speed humps don't do enough, while others say their ineffectiveness is exactly the reason they should be removed.
Five speed bumps on Duke Homestead Road, north of Carver Street, are set to be removed as early as this week, which has neighbors up in arms.
"Some of them are just completely driving recklessly," resident Ron Grimes said.
Grimes lives right in front of one of those speed humps.
That quiet neighborhood in Durham is used as a cut through for drivers to dodge between busy streets, like Carver and Duke.
Grimes says people speed through the neighborhood daily.
"You'll sometimes see someone going 40, 50, or two days ago, a couple of motorcycles came through here at better than 60 miles an hour," Grimes said.
Grimes said it's been a problem for years, and while he's pushing for bigger speed humps, the city is getting ready to remove what's in place now.
"The City of Durham here, against the wishes of many of us here, is going to be embarked on an experiment that I would call a traffic un-calming experiment," Grimes said. "And we're worried about, literally about being T-boned out here by speeding cars."
Grimes said he has skid marks left behind from his own close encounter.
"That is a guy in a Chevy who was going so fast behind me, that when I turned my turn signal to turn in, he had to jam on the breaks, Grimes said, pointing to the burnt rubber left behind on the pavement. "I was almost rear-ended yesterday."
Another neighbor agrees the speed humps are ineffective, but that's exactly why he thinks they should go.
"I often play soccer on the streets and we occasionally run into cars that are going way too fast for a busy road like this," said Drew Gore, who lives a few houses down from Grimes.
"If they went, I don't think it would make a difference," Gore said about the speed humps.
Grimes says he's upset because it takes a petition with a 75 percent approval rate to put the speed bumps in, but it takes a petition with only just over 50 percent to take them out.
Ron says he thinks the decision on whether the speed humps stay or go should be left up to the city.
"We believe that it is not good policy," Grimes said.
"Numerous of us believe that this policy needs to be re-thought by the city council and that (Department of Transportation) should be determining policy here."
The City tells us there was some opposition to tearing out the speed humps, but 62 percent of neighbors signed the petition to have them removed.
"They won't have even a single hump between here and Carver to slow them down," Grimes said. "It's going to be open season again out here."
Those speed humps are expected to be removed within the next couple of weeks.
