ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – People living on Albuquerque’s west side said they’ve had enough with speeders. They’ve asked the city for speed bumps, but they were told their street doesn’t meet the criteria for them.
“As you can see cars come through here a bit, there goes another one now,” said neighbor Joseph Padilla. “There’s probably gonna be another one coming up this way.”
People who live on Dover Street, near McMahon and Golf Course on Albuquerque’s west side, said speeders are taking over their neighborhood. “It just never stops,” said neighbor Andy McKinley.
In the short amount of time News 13 spent on Dover, using the speed gun, we caught a lot of fast drivers. In about an hour, we clocked about a dozen cars going above the 25 miles per hour limit.
Last year, neighbors asked the city for speed bumps, so the city did a traffic study on Dover Street. The findings backed up the neighbors’ claims, saying 85 percent of the drivers were going seven miles per hour over the limit. But that alone wasn’t enough to get speed bumps. “We were shut down by the city, they denied us,” said Padilla.
The study said since there were no reported crashes here in the past three years, and there wasn’t an overwhelming amount of cars driving on that street during peak-hours, Dover doesn’t qualify. So they reached out to City Councilor Cynthia Borrego.
“I think it’s important to take a look at this issue because children’s safety is primary,” said Councilor Borrego. She said the city is reworking its criteria for roads to qualify for speed bumps, but these neighbors can’t wait. She put in a resolution for the city to install speed bumps on Dover anyway.
“It is a route for children to walk to their bus stops,” said Councilor Borrego.
“I think speed bumps would be a blessing for us,” said McKinley.
“We would appreciate all the help we could get,” said neighbor Jesus Verduzco.
If that resolution gets passed at the city council on Monday, Borrego said the city would install the speed bumps. It would cost about 20-thousand dollars.
