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Article of Interest........
The
Orlando Sentinel (May 3, 2001)
Turkeys become 'bump' in the road
John Kennedy,Tallahassee Bureau Chief
May
3, 2001
TALLAHASSEE
-- Sen. Jim Horne said Wednesday he’s
tired of having his Mustang convertible rattled by speed bumps
when he drives on a Tallahassee street leading to the airport.
So
the Senate’s powerful budget chairman has done something about
it. He tucked into Florida’s $48.3 billion budget a provision
that orders Leon County to remove the bumps, or lose $458 million
in state highway money.
"Sure,
it’s micro-management," conceded Horne, R-Orange Park. "But
if you put it up for a vote, I think everybody in the Legislature
would vote to get rid of those speed bumps."
Not
satisfied with leveling speed bumps, Horne also made capital
city highway dollars contingent on changing the Tallahassee-Leon
County Civic Center to the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center, the
facility’s original name.
It
also prompted a protest Wednesday by three Leon County commissioners,
who scattered tea across the disputed speed-bumps, as a symbol
of their Boston Tea Party-like revolt against the Legislature’s
action.
"If
you’re concerned at all about home rule, this is absolutely
atrocious," said Commissioner Cliff Thaell.
The
Lake Price Road Fiasco
Watermill
and Lake Georgia Drive Residents.....What follows
is the information from the Lake Price Road Fiasco.....
The
traffic counters on Lake Price (placed by Orange County) indicate
that there are over 3,800 vehicles passing there DAILY.
Since HUNDREDS of us are avoiding that undrivable humped road,
the actual total traffic is most likely somewhere WELL OVER
4,000 vehicless/day. Orange County's speed hump program
clearly states that no road with over 3,000 vehicles a day
is even eligible to be humped! SO, ORANGE COUNTY,
WHEN CAN WE EXPECT THESE HUMPS TO BE REMOVED? Remember this
also, they are ALL
built in a non-conforming manner!!! REMEMBER,
not all humps are built the same. The ones on Lake Price
Road are AWFUL and a detriment to the community.
BUMP THE BUMPS!!!
SPEED HUMPS IN ORANGE COUNTY
MUST GO!!
Orange County wants to use $500,000 MORE of YOUR TAX DOLLARS
to destroy your own roads. Can't they think of a
better way to spend
a half million dollars!!?????
9
HUGE HUMPS within a half mile is RIDICULOUS!
Lake Price Road
is NOT a private road and NOT a shortcut!
 BULLETIN:
You may have noticed that Orange County "adjusted" some of the
humps by ADDING MORE asphalt to them in an effort to ease the
ride. As we can all see, this did nothing to alleviate
the situation. Some of these humps are 5" HIGH!
NEWS:
Homeowners are finding it more difficult to sell their homes
due to these road obstructions. Realtors report that
buyers walk away when they see 9 humps in a row! There
are other, saner ways to to deal with "traffic" than to make
a drive as unpleasant as it can be.
There
has already been one emergency airlift and one ambulance "detour"
from Lake Price Drive because ambulances would not go back
over the bumps to transport critically ill patients!
Don't wait until you or a precious loved one suffers or your
house burns to the ground due to slowed emergency response.
EVERY SECOND COUNTS in an emergency. Of
course Orange County knows this as it just approved installation
35 "life saving" defibrillators at the Orlando International
Airport. According to Mark Swanson, President of the
American Heart Association's Florida Chapter, "For every minute
that (rescue) is delayed, the likelihood of survival drops
by about 7-10 percent".
WHY
make EVERYONE suffer driving over a roller coaster road.
HUMPS
ARE FOR CAMELS, NOT ROADS!!
IF
YOU HAVEN'T DRIVEN YOUR PERSONAL VEHICLE OVER THESE NINE HUMPS
SEVERAL TIMES A DAY, EVERY DAY, AT 20-25 MPH AND EXPERIENCED
THE "RIDE", PLEASE DO SO BEFORE PASSING JUDGMENT !
Orange
County Commissioners and developers bargained away YOUR driving
rights by agreeing to install these NINE speed humps along Lake
Price Road,
a MAJOR ACCESS ROAD for residents of the area.
Now, they want to hump all of Orange County!
What is the matter with these people?
Anti
Safe Streets Residents (ASSR's) usually couch their complaints
in terms like “speeders” and “reckless drivers”.
Their real desired objective is to disrupt and divert traffic
to other streets (how very neighborly). Instead
of being jolted by 9 speed bumps in close succession, the objective
is diverting drivers to “go around” this area and drive
5 miles out of the way to drive South to Colonial Drive
and the Expressway or North to Oviedo! Absurd! This
is a PUBLIC ACCESS ROAD, NOT A PRIVATE SUBDIVISION ROAD. It
is the ONLY convenient, paved North/South access road in this
area! IT IS NOT A SHORTCUT!
FACTS:
SPEED
BUMPS ARE DANGEROUS IN EMERGENCIES – THEY CAN COST LIVES.
Ambulances and fire trucks are slowed down up to 13 seconds
for EACH speed bump. Seconds DO count in an emergency.
Lake Price Road will slow emergency vehicles over 2 minutes
EACH WAY to and from an emergency. Heart attack victims
could die waiting for help. The
"Anti
Safe Streets Residents" (ASSR's) DON'T CARE ABOUT THIS!
They would rather their neighbors DIE than have more traffic
in front of their homes (which just happen to be on a main street)!
According to a Miami Herald interview with a paramedic, “Our
trucks have to crawl over them. If we are carrying someone
with a neck or spinal injury, you can’t go more than 5mph over
them. Can you imagine doing an IV with a patient and hitting
a bump?” YES, EVEN AT A CRAWL, THEY HURT.
"Councils
to spend millions" The Electronic Telegraph, England, February
27, 2000
"TOWNS and cities throughout Britain are to spend millions of
pounds removing up to 500,000 road humps, because they are a potential
hazard for new buses built with lower floors to allow wheelchair
access."
- "...roads with humps have been declared bus-less
zones and routes now go along hump-free streets. ... Although
low-floor buses can just about get over them, road humps can damage
the undercarriage and provide an uncomfortable ride for
passengers."
- "Ambulances already have to go on special routes
to avoid (the humps) when transferring critically ill people to
hospital if there is a danger a sudden jolt could make their injuries
worse."
SPEED
BUMPS DAMAGE VEHICLES.
Even crawling over these bumps and grinding traffic to a halt,
serious vehicular damage occurs to cars, county emergency vehicles,
school buses and trucks (not to mention damage to the contents
from bumping along). Driving over them daily produces a cumulative
damaging effect. They must be driven over at idle creeping
speed, NOT 25 mph. Taxpayers pay for increased county
vehicle maintenance costs, but Anti Safe Streets Residents (ASSR's)
DON'T CARE! They just think that everyone
(including the disabled, seniors and disabled children's bus)
wants to speed past their house (which happens to be on a MAIN
ROAD - anyone listening?)
SPEED
BUMPS COST TAXPAYERS MONEY AND INCREASE AREA POLLUTION.
The repeated braking-acceleration causes vehicles to burn more
gasoline, increasing your fuel costs (just what we all need)
and adding UP TO 10% to the area's pollution. Anti
Safe Streets Residents (ASSR's) DON'T CARE ABOUT THIS EITHER.
Anything is worth it to them to have less traffic outside their
home. Anything.
SPEED
BUMPS NEGATIVELY AFFECT PROPERTY VALUES Think
about it. You don't like driving over an unsightly and
dangerous roller coaster road every day. Would you
have purchased in this area if these road impediments were already
installed? Would you have wanted to purchase in an area
which made you drive over 9 speed bumps every day to and from
your home? The overwhelming majority of people say
"NO" to that question. What will that do when it comes
time to sell YOUR home? Ah, one topic that WILL affect
the Anti Safe Streets Residents (ASSR's) at house sale
time.
SPEED
BUMPS FRUSTRATE DRIVERS AND DIVIDE COMMUNITIES.
The majority of drivers obey speed limits. Impeding roads
with reverse potholes and forcing people to endure the disruption
and inconvenience simply adds to road rage. In some communities,
drivers honk their horn as they pass over every speed bump as
a form of protest. People already spend too much
time on the road without having their daily drive disrupted
even more. Anti Safe Streets Residents (ASSR's) DON'T
CARE HOW anyone else feels about humps. THEY want them
and THEY like them and THEY just want THEIR way and no other
residents of "their" community should have any say in what THEY
want, even though THEY are the minority and THEY LIVE ON A MAIN
ROAD (or didn't they notice this small fact?) How selfish
and un-neighborly and shortsighted can these people be?
THERE ARE OTHER WAYS TO DEAL WITH TRAFFIC!
SPEED
BUMPS CAUSE PAIN FOR DISABLED INDIVIDUALS.
Anti Safe Streets Residents (ASSR's) JUST DON'T CARE that
speed bumps cause discomfort for disabled people and those
with back and neck injuries. As unpleasant as it is for
a healthy person to be suddenly jolted by constant stop and
go over roller-coaster road impediments, imagine what an injured
person feels. Senior Citizen Transport Buses jolt our
precious seniors who already are in pain. Don't tell us that
these people just want to "speed"!
SPEED
BUMPS ARE BEING OUTLAWED AND REMOVED IN MANY COMMUNITIES.
Extensive governmental studies have proven that speed bumps
are no more than an annoying, destructive and ineffective method
of traffic control. NO accidents are prevented from their installation.
In fact, a young girl was recently killed after being struck
by a vehicle negotiating around a speed bump. Why is Orange
County pursuing a program that Seminole County has abandoned??
How did Orange County install these things without following
its OWN RULES AND REGULATIONS? NO ONE in the area was
notified about this and NO VOTE was taken. PLUS, this
is a road, according to Orange County, with over 4,000 vehicles
a day - 1,000 vehicles OVER ORANGE COUNTY's limit for the installation
of speed humps!
LAKE
PRICE ROAD IS NOT AN ISOLATED SUBDIVISION.
Lake Price is not a “shortcut” or "cut through" road.
There IS NO SUCH THING as a cut-through road! Roads are
made to be driven on - not blocked! It is the only
major North/South route conveniently located for use by hundreds
of area residents from both Orange and Seminole Counties
to access the Expressway, East Colonial Drive and Oviedo!
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ORANGE
COUNTY RESIDENTS: If you are against speed humps