Dearborn begins installation of speed humps across City to address speeding and reckless driving

Dearborn begins installation of speed humps across City to address speeding and reckless driving

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Dearborn Mayor Abdullah H. Hammoud announced today that the City will install speed humps in three high-traffic areas as part of a comprehensive effort to curb speeding and reckless driving in its neighborhoods.

Mayor Hammoud stated, "Dearborn residents have been clear from day one: we need to make our roads safer. This program is about thinking beyond reactive measures and taking a preventative approach. These persistent public health and safety issues require dynamic, innovative, and multi-pronged strategies that lead with feedback from those directly affected."

Hammoud is asking residents to fill out this survey to offer feedback on the pilot sites and to provide ideas on where future sites should be.

According to the administration, road safety consistently ranks as the top priority for residents. The speed humps will be constructed on City-owned roads, as Dearborn does not have jurisdiction over major state and county roads that run through the City.

Speaking over Facebook Live from one of the pilot sites, Mayor Hammoud stressed that the program is part of a broader strategy to improve quality of life, address public safety, and drive responsible community development.

Dearborn Director of Public Health Ali Abazeed added, "Road safety is not just a transportation challenge, it's a public health imperative that we're addressing here today. This intervention uses data, community feedback, and creative prevention strategies to put public health principles in action."

Taking action

Shortly after taking office, Mayor Hammoud secured a $200,000 allocation for new traffic calming measures and fund new initiatives such as speed humps.

Hammoud also convened a task force to research and advise on traffic calming strategies to enhance neighborhood road safety, and to treat road safety as a public health issue.

Led by Dearborn Police Sgt. Andrew Galuszka, the Traffic Calming Task Force includes representatives from various departments across the City, including Public Health, Public Works, Community Relations, and others. The Task Force's mission is to enhance road safety from all angles, from the engineering of City's roads to enforcement and community messaging campaigns. It is also responsible for aggregating all feedback from the community and determining how to allocate resources in a way that is directly responsive to that feedback.

Sgt. Galuszka stated "Our task force reached a consensus to place speed humps near some of our busiest parks. This pilot will allow for a period of time to gather data and feedback about the use of speed humps as the overall traffic calming program continues to develop. The process of developing a traffic calming program is dynamic and evolving."

After extensive research on best practices from other communities, the Task Force recommended a trial program to install rubber speed humps on three road segments known for being sources of frequent traffic complaints, and that have other advantages for data and feedback collection. Rubber material was chosen based on cost and ease of installation and removal.

Community-driven strategy

The three locations will be part of the initial test, and more could follow based on the results.

The initial pilot locations are:

• Hemlock St adjacent to Hemlock Park;
• Lapeer St adjacent to Lapeer Park; and
• Silvery Lane adjacent to Levagood Park.

The locations were specifically chosen because:

• They are not in close proximity to one another, allowing for a greater number of residents that can observe them and provide feedback;
• Each location is adjacent to a park and known to be a source of traffic complaints;
• Homes are not facing the areas where the speed humps will be located; and
• There will not be anticipated disruption to public services, deliveries or parking.

During the trial period, City officials will collect and analyze data on public safety effects, traffic speed, traffic volume, and other indicators.

Feedback from the community and City departments is essential to the future development of the project, according to Hammoud. The administration is asking residents to visit the pilot sites, and provide input and feedback on where the City should install future speed humps using this survey: forms.gle/SPPdNiQb29Mi6gLU8

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