Columbia man pushes for action to reduce speeding on Garth Avenue

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A lifelong Columbia resident says he has shared his concerns about excessive speeding on Garth Avenue, but he claims the city won't take his issue seriously.

Stacy Wilson, 63, has lived in the 2500 block of North Garth Avenue for over 30 years. He told ABC 17 News on Wednesday that the speeding on his street has been an ongoing issue that escalated after the closing of the Providence Road overpass.

Wilson's block is not far from Parkade Elementary, Parkade Baptist Church and the Bear Creek Trail.

"We've got schools, we've got parks, we've got churches, we've got trails. We've got all kinds of public walking up and down these roads and that traffic's just going way too fast," said Wilson.

Wilson says he reached out to city leadership, specifically Second Ward Councilwoman Vera Elwood, for assistance. According to Wilson, Elwood was responsive at first and acknowledged the problem, but stopped responding after he attempted to schedule an in-person meeting to discuss the matter further.

On Aug. 25, Wilson received a call from city traffic engineer Ray Korning, who reportedly stated that installing speed humps on North Garth Avenue violated city policy.

According to Wilson, the call ended with no alternative solutions offered.

"This is mine and my neighbor's life right now. This traffic just speeding by day in, day out and it's just nobody wants to do anything about it," said Wilson.

In an interview with ABC 17 News, Jacob Ray, traffic engineering supervisor for the City of Coumbia, said he had no knowedge of that statement being made to Wilson.

Wilson said police contacted him about the issue on Aug. 31. Officers said speed radars would be put in. Wilson said the radars were up for a couple of weeks, but after a few days they were ineffective in making drivers slow down. The speed radars are no longer up, and Wilson said the speeding has returned.

One neighbor told ABC 17 News they do not let their children play in the front yard due to cars speeding.

Ray said that multiple factors go into deciding where to put traffic-calming devices like speed humps.

"One of those is really the amount of the traffic volume on the road, but also the connectivity to the surrounding area, and North Garth Avenue is a really important backbone for emergency response," Ray said.

Ray said putting in a stop sign for the sole purpose of speed control goes against by traffic engineering principles.

"There's reasons to put in stop signs such as volume, sight distance, crash history, etc. But speed control is definitely not one of them," Ray said.

Ray said traffic enforcement is the most effective way to reduce speeding.

Wilson thinks the opposite.

"Having a police officer out here for an hour then leaving is not going to do the job because an hour after they leave, the traffic's going to continue to go at the rate it's going," Wilson said.

ABC 17 News has submitted a records request on how many tickets the Columbia Police Department has written for speeding on Garth Avenue in the past 12 months.

Elwood did not respond to a request for comment.