Fairhope working to slow traffic

City to narrow two streets to reduce speeds

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FAIRHOPE – City officials are working on plans to slow traffic along several streets where residents have reported drivers going more than twice the posted speed limits.
The Fairhope City Council voted to narrow a portion of Merchon Street between Morphy Avenue and Nichols Avenue with a system known as a "bump-out." The city would widen a portion of the right of way to narrow the street in an effort to slow traffic.
The council also voted to add a similar pinch point on North Ingleside Street between Central Boulevard and Edwards Avenue.
Wendy Mundy, who lives on North Ingleside, said residents would like a stop sign put on the street to slow traffic immediately.
"It's a very straight road, no hills or curves, which makes it ideal for those who want to use it as a cut-through. It's also a very narrow road, which we think will make it difficult and costly to install pinch points," Mundy said. "During the recent traffic study, more than 18,000 vehicles used North Ingleside. Of that volume, 57% increased the posted 25-mile-an-hour speed limit and there are numerous recordings between 40 to 50 miles an hour and even max speeds in the 70 to 80 mile an hour range."

She said residents are worried about the increase in traffic on the street.
"With all the growth in the area, traffic volumes and speeding on North Ingleside will only continue to grow," Mundy said. "While we are fortunate to have sidewalks on the street, there are some sections that have no buffer between the street and the sidewalk. On a daily basis, families walk with their small children and pets. It's very scary to be on the sidewalk when a car passes going 45 miles an hour and, as you can imagine, it would not take much of a distraction for either driver or pedestrian for there to be a serious accident."
Councilman Jack Burrell, a member of the city Street and Traffic Committee, said the committee would discuss the request for a stop sign at its next meeting, but asked the council to approve moving forward with the work to narrow the street.
Burrell also recommended adding the pinch-point on Merchon. He said the system could be added on city property at a park on the block without affecting residential property.
"We felt like something needed to be done and we thought since the city owns the property across the street from the residents on Merchon, we wouldn't have to put a bump-out on someone's property. We could put it on our own property," Burrell said.
He said city officials have met with residents to discuss how to slow traffic.
"We thought that the pinch points would beautify the street," Burrell said. "It would be something that's not unattractive like a speed bump might be, although you can build some decorative speed tables and things."
He said traffic studies have shown that speeding is common on many streets in the city.
"Every street in town, if you put out counters or you put out something that measures the speed, you're going to get that one-off, somebody's going to come through there at some point in time during that two-week or three-week period and they're going to be doing 70 where you think they can only do 20 and I think in this case somebody may have been doing 90 on this street," Burrell said.