SOMERVILLE, MASS. (WHDH) - On the streets of Somerville, it’s driver beware with nearly 30 speed bumps spread throughout the city.
Some drivers have said they’re frustrated with the number of speed bumps in the area, with some saying the bumps are damaging their cars. Officials, though, say the bumps are in place to keep driver’s safe.
Moving forward, officials also plan to install more bumps.
“I just find that they are a little bit too close together and they are hard to see,” said Kelley Korf-Uzan.
Heddy Stern has mixed feelings about the speed bumps.
“For a while, especially at night, if you were driving, you would just have no idea where the speed bumps were and that was pretty difficult,” Stern said.
Somerville decided to look into the effectiveness of speed bumps in 2019 after a hit-and-run crash left a pedestrian dead and police searching for the driver responsible.
Years later, Dom Wise, who favors speed bumps, said he thinks the bumps “are important for the flow of traffic and the community.”
A study found, with these bumps, drivers were speeding only 10% of the time, down from 50%.
Brian Postlewaite, Somerville’s Director of Engineering, said “It’s been an amazingly effective solution to motorists who are driving too quickly and not paying enough attention to the streets.”
Somerville began installing speed bumps two years ago.
There have been issues, such as when the bumps were installed on Central Street in May.
Originally the bumps on the street were not marked. Somebody then eventually came out with a can of spray paint and marked the bumps themselves.
Somerville officials said supply chain issues and labor shortages led to construction delays.
“We adjusted,” Postlewaite said. “We heard complaints. We worked with other departments to get posts out here more quickly.”
Somerville officials have said they will continue to build about a dozen new speed bumps each year, complaints or no complaints.
Though some have said they fear the speed bumps have damaged their cars, the city said it has not received any applications for reimbursements to date.
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