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Town ponders new humps to curb speeders

Devices among fiscal priorities in Washington Grove

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Washington Grove has allotted funds to install several speed humps along some town roads in the wake of renewed concern over speeding vehicles.

The consideration is the latest move in a years-long battle the small Gaithersburg-area town has waged against traffic that many say routinely careens through narrow streets, despite uniformly low speed limits and the presence of pedestrians.

‘‘There’s been some more dribbling in, mostly asking for speed humps near their house or somewhere nearby,” Washington Grove Mayor John Compton said of the most recent feedback the town has gotten from residents. ‘‘We expect to mention it specifically at the town meeting.”

In approving a budget for the upcoming fiscal year, leaders at the annual June 10 town meeting will address the $6,000 earmarked for the traffic-calming devices, which have been in place for years in some areas and are being considered for as many as three roads.

At about $1,000 per hump — not to be confused with the more jarring speed bumps — the money would accommodate the possibility of installing about six of the devices on Maple Road, Chestnut Street, Hickory Road and Ridge Road, where three of them have been in place for about 10 years.

Six humps have also been in place for several years on Washington Grove Lane.

‘‘We’ve had requests from people on Maple Road,” town Councilman Darrell Anderson said, adding that that could be due in part to increased traffic on that road by drivers seeking to avoid the humps on Ridge. ‘‘People have just been complaining about it for about a year or so.”

Maple Road at Oak Street is foremost among the points being considered for the devices because, Compton says, ‘‘Oak is a fairly heavily used pedestrian walkway. The neighbors there are concerned for the safety of kids.”

It is also likely a hump may be placed on Maple between Brown and Oak streets, leaders say.

Less certain is whether two or three will be placed on Chestnut Road at Acorn Lane, Center and Oak streets; one on Hickory Road at Railroad and Oak streets; and two new ones along Ridge Road — though there, Compton has some experience.

‘‘I live on Ridge Road and I think they’re very effective,” he said of the already existing humps.

Still, some say that while other measures have not fully addressed the matter, multiplying speed humps may not be the best solution.

‘‘In the scheme of things, it’s important to the people,” said Anderson, the town councilman, adding that new houses on Ridge Road might also account for an increased number of potential speeders. ‘‘But personally, I hate to see speed humps put in anywhere.”

For one, he said, it poses risks to cars with low undercarriages, but it also could prove disrupting to people using other modes of transportation, like bicycles or roller-blades.

But for pedestrians on Maple Road, the likeliest site to first get a hump, there doesn’t appear to be much else the town can do to get people to hit the brakes.