BRICK – What can be done about cars speeding through neighborhoods?
According to Brick Police Sgt. Joe Rossi, who heads up the Traffic Safety division, “everyone immediately jumps to speed bumps,” which he said is a last resort.
Speed bumps (or humps) are a rounded traffic calming device that are placed across the road to slow traffic before and after the bump.
They’re expensive, they require constant maintenance, they can damage cars and they create a lot of noise, Rossi said.
They affect the roadway in different ways, and snowplows hit them, he added.
The process for requesting speed bumps in Brick starts with a petition, which every homeowner on the street must sign. Then Traffic Safety conducts a speed study which includes the volume of cars, speed violations and crash data from the last three years, he said.
Once the study is complete and “we hit all the boxes,” the application is forwarded to the township Engineering Department.
“Speed bumps are not the cure-all,” he said. “We start off small and try things like signage and lane markings, which are very effective. Speed bumps are the last resort.”
Township Engineer Elissa Commins said that about half the time, residents ask to have the speed bumps removed after they’ve been installed because the vehicles crossing over them make so much noise.
“We start out with a speed study and quite often nothing is warranted – sometimes it’s the perception of speeding and a car is only going 23 miles per hour,” she said.
When the study gets as far as her department, Commins said they hold a neighborhood meeting to make sure that everyone agrees they want the speed bumps. “It’s difficult to get a consensus,” she said.
Speed bumps were recently installed on Old Silverton Road, which motorists use to bypass the busy intersection of Old Hooper and Drum Point Road. Those residents waited years for their installation, and in just a matter of days some of them filed noise complaints, Commins added.
There are only a few roads in town that have the speed bumps since it’s hard to get everyone to agree, she said. Right now the administration is considering installing the bumps at the Housing Authority, who requested them. Commins said they have to make sure that EMS and the Fire Bureau are okay with it.
During a recent Facebook Live show, Mayor John G. Ducey was asked about speed bumps.
“Nobody ever wants speed bumps once they’re installed,” he said. “What happens is, early morning school buses, UPS trucks, people who like to hit these things as fast as they can to see how much air time they can get in their car, all that is real noisy,” he said.
The noise starts around 6:15 a.m. with school buses, which the mayor said wakes everybody up, so the township tries not to go that route anymore.
“Everybody signs off, nobody has any idea where they’re gonna be designed or whether it’s gonna be in front of their house,” the mayor said.
To request a speed study, call the Police Department’s non-emergency number at 732 262-1150.
