by Keith L. Martin | Staff Writer
John Carruthers and Melanie Gettier know there is no quick solution to fast drivers zipping down their street every day, but the pair is willing to wait out an answer.
On Tuesday night, the two East Third Street neighbors presented the city with a petition to seek some relief from cars speeding down their street, a problem they see as extremely dangerous.
‘‘If someone is struck or killed, it will be an unmitigated disaster and a real tragedy,” Carruthers said. ‘‘...We are seeing speeds upwards of 60 miles per hour, so it is just luck that no one has been hit. The speed limit here is 25 miles per hour, so the city has an obligation to enforce it.”
Shortly after moving to Frederick in 2006, Carruthers and his neighbor, Gettier, a resident since 1991, found common ground in their concerns regarding traffic because each has two young children.
A stay-at-home mom, Gettier said on a daily basis, she sees cars speeding down her street from Market Street trying to beat the traffic light at East Street. Because of its lack of congestion, she said, many use East Third Street to cut through downtown and avoid traffic elsewhere.
Just two weeks ago, she saw a motorist pass a school bus stopped at Chapel Alley to pick up a student.
‘‘I heard the screech of tires and then the car sped around the bus with its stop sign out to make the green light [at East Street],” she said. ‘‘They succeeded. ... This is not any kind of annoyance; this is a serious safety issue.”
In an effort to help their neighbors, who range from young families to elderly residents, the pair decided to take the reins in seeking action from the city.
Last summer they contacted Alderman Marcia A. Hall (D), who brought their concerns up at a Streets and Sanitation meeting. Carruthers was then put in touch with the city’s traffic engineer, Devon Hahn, who he said has been ‘‘incredibly helpful” with their concerns.
Carruthers and Gettier went door-to-door in January and February to ask neighbors to sign a petition asking the city to help. With the petition in hand featuring 65 signatures the pair went to their Neighborhood Advisory Council meeting on Tuesday at City Hall to talk to other neighbors and present their case.
Hahn said the petition’s numbers put the issue ‘‘on a path to go forward,” and said the city’s engineering department will start monitoring motorist volume and speeds to begin studying the issue.
She outlined the process from there, a lengthy one that includes looking at appropriate ‘‘traffic calming measures,” which vary from raised speed humps to ‘‘chokers,” curb extensions that jut out of the sidewalk to narrow the street. City staff will then come back to the Neighborhood Advisory Council with a recommendation that then needs 65 percent of neighbor approval.
Frederick police also pledged to help. Cpl. David Armstrong of the patrol division told residents that stationing an officer-held radar gun on the street in the daytime was ‘‘not an effective way to spend the day,” but that the department’s radar trailer, which flashes motorist’s speeds, could help.
‘‘It can tell us the number of cars and how fast they are going, so maybe it needs to go back there for a while,” Police Chief Kim C. Dine told the 30 residents assembled for the meeting, who also shared their concerns regarding speeding motorists.
Following the meeting, Carruthers and Gettier said they were pleased that the city will investigate the matter, and reaffirmed their commitment to seeking a solution for their neighborhood.
‘‘We are very committed to see this through,” Carruthers said. ‘‘We have brought a lot of people along with us through the process [through the petition] and know this is the right thing to do. It would be unconscionable to drop out now, so we are counting on the city to look into it.”
For information on efforts to curb speeding on East Third Street, e-mail John Carruthers at john.carruthers@mac.com.
