ORLANDO, Fla. – The woman who petitioned for a speed hump said she’s already seeing results right in front of her home. That’s where crews began installing a new speed hump along Minnesota Avenue near Overspin Drive.
“I’m happy it’s in front of my house,” said Marcy Kolpin. “It’s going to do the trick, slowing people down and make it safer for our neighbors.”
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Kolpin has lived in the Orlando neighborhood for about 15 years. She said it’s been quiet until a year ago. That’s when she said she and her neighbors began fighting for a resolution to the speeding problems they were having.
A year ago, stops signs were removed from a three-way stop at Minnesota Avenue, leaving only one stop sign at the Overspin Drive cross street. Orange County Public Works said the stop signs aren’t warranted. The problem? Minnesota is parallel to the busy Fairbanks Avenue.
“Traffic started flying through, people using Minnesota as a cut-through. We were getting double the traffic and getting twice the speed,” said Kolpin.
After several complaints, the Orange County Public Works Department conducted a traffic study. News 6 spoke with the department manager in October.
“The results showed that people were traveling on average 33 miles per hour, so 8 miles over the posted speed limit,” said Humberto Castillero, Manager of Orange County Public Works Department.
“We asked for signs ... we begged to put the stop signs back, they said that wasn’t going to happen. So we thought, ‘what about speed humps?’ They said that takes a petition and an army,” said Kolpin.
That’s exactly what the neighborhood did. They only needed a 2/3 consensus for the speed hump but received 100% approval from neighbors. Commissioner Emily Bonilla covered the $4,500 cost through her own funding.
Kolpin said the speed hump gives her peace of mind.
“Finally, it’s going to happen and we’re going to get some control in traffic. That’s all we ever wanted,” said Kolpin. “Those cars that are not interested in flying over a speed hump can stick to Fairbanks.”
Another neighbor said he plans to petition to have another speed hump installed about a block away to help control speeding.