Albany neighborhoods to soon get speed bumps to reduce speeding issues

ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - A few communities in Albany are working to make their neighborhoods safer. Especially when it comes to speeding.

Neighbors in the Pine Glen and Mitchell Acres subdivisions said they just want to keep their children safe. And that they just want people to slow down.

Dean Phinazee is the advisor of the neighborhood watch in the Pine Glen subdivision.

“We had speed tables in the neighborhood before. And when they resurfaced the roads, they did not put the speed tables back down,” Phinazee said. “So after we organized as a neighborhood watch, the people request that we get speed tables back in the community.”

Phinazee said he and other members of his neighborhood watch group continuously notice the ongoing speeding issue in their neighborhood.

“There was a study done at first to see about the speeders. We have a road that’s straight into our neighborhood. And I think that’s where people speed a lot. So a study was done. And it was determined that we did need speed tables,” he said.

Phinazee was able to get the required 60% of signatures in order to get the speed bumps installed. But when they’ll be installed is still up in the air.

“We chose the speed bumps for these applications because these two roads in the near future will be submitted for resurfacing that will just make it easier for us to take them up, resurface the road and then reinstall them,” Jeremy Brown, Dougherty County engineer manager, said.

Dougherty County Commission Chairman Lorenzo Heard said this is all made possible due to SPLOST funding.

“The thing about SPLOST is it allows us to do some things that we maybe wouldn’t be able to do,” Heard said. “And so we’re happy to be able to help the community with speed tables. And it will hopefully slow the speeders down.”

To start the process, residents need to submit a written request to public works, including the locations and concerns they have with a certain residential road.

But if approved, your neighborhood could see either speed bumps or speed tables.

“They’re sort of different applications. The speed bumps that we use are made of a different type of material used to slow down vehicles at a different speed,” Brown said. “But of course, the speed bumps that we use are rubber. And we’re able to remove them. Speed tables are permanent. They’re made out of concrete.”

Once a written letter requesting a speed study is done, then the request is forwarded to traffic engineering.

“Which then puts out the traffic counters that record speed. And the number of vehicles that go through that area. Then those numbers are evaluated,” Brown said. “And if a certain amount of vehicles go a certain speed, then that indicates a problem.”

If the speeds meet the requirements then the person who submitted the request has to get a certain number of signatures from their neighbors.

Based on the speed that was recorded, it either has to be 60% or 80% in favor of those speed tables or speed bumps.

From there, it’s submitted and presented to the commission, and they determine whether or not there’s funding to install them.

Brown said they usually get these types of requests two to three times a year. But that it’s not always about speeding.

Copyright 2023 WALB. All rights reserved.