Concord Man Wants Speed Bump Installed

A father who lives on Michigan Boulevard asked the City of Concord on Tuesday to install a speed bump by his home and resolve a problem created by vehicle drivers.

Concord resident Jonathan Plise says automobile drivers and motorcyclists speed in front of his house, which is located in a neighborhood where children often ride their bicycles and play in the front yards. 

"I have a two-year-old daughter," Plise said. "All it takes is one bad turn for someone to veer into our drive way...that's my worst fear."

Plise said drivers take advantage of a gap in the speed bumps to exceed the speed limit and go up to 50 miles per hour. 

He and his neighbors in the Clayton Valley Highlands neighborhood started an online poll to gather public sentiment about the installation of this speed hump. 71 percent of people who have participated in his poll are in favor of calming traffic velocities in that area.

“We are trying to slow speedy drivers down on our block, and the fact is, the speed bumps are not placed correctly,” writes Anna Plise in the comments on the poll. 

“There is a large gap where there should be another bump. If there could be some other way to slow cars down, such as a 'Your Speed Is' sign, then we would be happy with that as well,” she said.

Mr. Plise presented the problem to City Council on Tuesday and recommended the installation of a new speed bump between 5528 and 5530 Michigan Boulevard to resolve it. There is a speed bump every 10th of a mile on that road, except in front of his home where there exists a 3/10ths of a mile gap between speed bumps.  

"It's a flaw in the design," Plise said. 

Not everyone is in favor of the initiative.

“We have enough auto suspension destroying speed bumps,” writes David Slaby in a comment on the poll.

Some have presented alternatives such placing a police officer with a radar gun in the area to discourage exceeding the speed limit. 

Others say this is too close to Highlands Elementary School to disregard the additional speed bump.

“More families with small children are moving into the neighborhood, and these speeders present a clear and present danger to these children,” writes D.L. Wiley on the poll. “This a life/safety issue and can't be ignored,” Wiley said.

After Mr. Plise presented the idea, Concord City Council referred the issue to city staff. The city’s Engineering Division had not returned a call to determine the feasibility of this project by the time of this article’s publication.

Do you think the area needs another speed bump? Tell us your thoughts about this in the comments.