CINCINNATI — The city’s Department of Transportation and Engineering is piloting a new street calming measure in the neighborhood of Pendleton, east of Over-The-Rhine.
A “stop bump” is the first-of-its-kind in the nation, said senior city planner Melissa McVay.
The 3-inch high asphalt speed bump is installed at the same point as the stop sign at the intersection of 13th and Pendleton.
It’s the same intersection where WCPO previously reported a little boy broke away from his mother, ran into the crosswalk and was hit by a car that did not stop. After being lifted into the air and pushed back several feet, he got up unscathed.
“Unfortunately, we’re finding more and more that signage alone just isn’t really effective,” McVay said. “We’re needing to take more physical measures that actually force drivers to slow down when they might otherwise not choose to do so.”
The department heard about the idea from a community council member who saw it in Mexico.
“It’s more akin to what you’d find in a parking lot at a shopping mall … where you really have to slow down to five or 10 miles per hour or slower in order to go over it,” McVay said.
It’s welcome news to residents in the neighborhood, said Pendleton Neighborhood Council president Abbey Tissot.
“We've all had too many close calls, where we have the right to cross but vehicles didn't stop and it takes your breath away,” Tissot said.
Since the pandemic, she said there’s been a noticeable reduction in the amount of people walking and bike riding around the neighborhood.
“A lot of our families just don’t feel safe with their kids out here,” Tissot said.
From Jay Gee's Barbershop & Beauty Salon, owner John Green said he used to watch cars speed through at 30 or 40 miles per hour “nonstop.”
Now, cars are coming between 5 and 10 miles per hour. He said they are obeying the stop sign, and kids are feeling more comfortable walking through.
“It has made progress,” he said.
Longtime resident Marvin Butts agrees that the side of the intersection has improved, but called it “an appetizer instead of dinner.”
“It’s only effective when you hit it, and it’s not like a warning,” Butts said.
WCPO cameras caught several cars that slowed at the intersection but still rolled through the stop signs. Several cars rapidly decelerated after speeding on 13th Street’s steep downhill.
McVay said the department has seen the questions online about the placement of the stop bump: “In my experience, even if it was 20 feet back, a car is 20 feet long. At that point, they’re going over it and they’re accelerating, and they’re in the crosswalk.”
Over the next six months, McVay said they will monitor the effectiveness of the measure using camera data and community feedback.
“We’re starting from scratch, and we hope it works,” she said. “If it’s not exactly what we want, then we’ll continue to adjust it.”
“It’s really great example that Mel especially listened to residents,” said Tissot. “Those kinds of ears at the city are important. We need more of them.”
