MONROE — Police have been increasing the monitoring of traffic along 27th Street after a group of concerned parents shared their stories of speeding and running stop signs along the few blocks where roughly 16 young children live.
Monroe Police Chief Fred Kelley said he has officers monitoring the area during week days, observing whether drivers are adhering to the stop sign. Especially toward the end of a general work day, like 4:30 or 5 p.m., he said.
“It’s all about preventing accidents,” Kelley said. “It’s all about addressing the concerns of the neighborhood.”
Erica Foulker, a resident within the 300 block of the street, spoke during a Public Safety Committee meeting April 23, adding to letters already sent to the city by a handful of parents.
“I know putting up a sign isn’t going to solve 100% of the issues, but it’s a start,” Foulker said, noting that the lack of sidewalks makes the street even more dangerous.
Kelley and Director of Public Works Al Gerber both said during the meeting that “children at play” signs that Foulker and other parents were suggesting were not allowed by state law that dictates sign usage in municipalities. Kelley said additional speed limit signs could be placed along the street, but that drivers should be adhering to the residential default speed of 25 mph.
“It tells them they have to go 25, but does that mean they go 25?” Kelley said to the group at the meeting. “No.”
He also said sometimes vehicles can seem to be moving faster than people think as they are casually observing them.
Four separate letters were sent to the city by parents echoing Foulker’s concerns.
Josh Schulist also requested members of the committee take steps to make the street safer, gesturing toward his two young sons, 5 and 3, quietly climbing on the chairs in council chambers. In his letter, Schulist wrote “our concern is that, although we are teaching our children to obey traffic laws, their safety and the safety of our neighbors are placed at risk when others fail to do the same.”
Neighbors Naila Mustafa and Luke and Sarah Johanson also sent letters requesting steps be taken to avoid what they see as disregard for safety of the neighborhood children.
Members of the committee, Brooke Bauman and Kelly Hermanson, agreed to allow Kelley to begin initial steps of increased monitoring of the neighborhood, starting with a small speed monitoring device, or a speed sensor, that will note whether cars are speeding and at what times.
Kelley noted that in the past, police have been able to identify a particular perpetrator of excess speeding within the city through use of the small monitoring device because the driver went by the same place at the same time each day.
He said May 3 that technicians have been sent out to 27th Street, but due to a lack of electrical poles, have not yet set it up. They are currently considering how to mount the speed monitoring device. Kelley said the monitoring will be ongoing for “a few weeks” and if police identify a speeding problem, a radar sign which flashes the speeds of vehicles as they drive by will be placed along the side of the street.
Kelley added that if the device indicates there are a number of cars exceeding safe speeds, an officer in an unmarked car can remain parked in the area. If there is a problem, it is likely only a single speeder or a few culprits behind it, he said.