GULF SHORES — Residents surrounding Meyer Park are voicing their concerns on safety in the Gulf Pines neighborhood since the city rerouted traffic off Canal Road so construction on the new pedestrian bridge can begin.

Traffic changes were implemented on March 10 when access to East 2nd Street from Canal Road, or State Highway 180, was permanently closed. Detours were created along East 24th Avenue and East 23rd Avenue, which has brought traffic down East 3rd Street to Canal Road, right next to Meyer Park.

Resident Stephanie Seeley represented the neighborhood when she spoke to Gulf Shores City Council at a March 24 public meeting. She presented a community-initiated petition that had 64 signatures at the time of the meeting. This petition highlights “the urgent need for intervention” from the city concerning detours and the traffic coming through Meyer Park.

“Over the past few weeks, residents have observed numerous instances of reckless driving,” Seeley said, “with vehicles speeding through our community and the park at alarming rates.”

She told council of a situation she “personally witnessed” of children and a woman “narrowly avoid bring struck” while walking along a crosswalk next to the park. Seeley said the example is “regrettably, all too common.”

She suggested short-term solutions that work to reduce speeds such as speed bumps, speed limit signs that scan vehicle speed and “increased police presence.”

A long-term solution she recommended is an alternate route that avoids the residential area entirely, a permanent plan the city has said they aim for. Seeley implored the council to “collaborate swiftly” to work on something that “will prevent tragedies.”

According to Seeley and other residents of the Meyer Park community who spoke to Gulf Coast Media after the meeting, drivers are trying to avoid the traffic that has accumulated at the new detours by cutting through other streets further into the Meyer Park community such as East 10th and East 9th streets.

“I don’t know why they wouldn’t go around this community that’s been there forever. We have tons of kids,” said Allie Bailey, another resident. “We don’t even have any sidewalks because the community’s so old.”

Another resident, Steve Noblitt, said he has been out of town since the end of January and that there is “no comparison” in the traffic then to now. He said vehicles from cars to 18-wheelers go by his house “trying to get from 0 to 60” miles per hour while moving on from the stop sign in front of his house.

Seeley said she is concerned about her kids playing in her front yard safely. She said, “it’s absolutely insane,” especially with a community “full of kids.”

Bailey said she is also concerned for her kids and others who walk to Gulf Shores schools from the Meyer Park area through a pedestrian pathway leading from East 3rd Street. She said drivers are “not slowing down” but rather are “increasing speed” throughout the neighborhood.

“They’re going to run me off the road,” Bailey said.