CLEVELAND, Ohio — The city of Cleveland is touting its speed table pilot program as a success, but some neighbors think more needs to be done to crack down on dangerous driving.
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A little more than a year after a 5-year-old girl was fatally struck by a car on W. 50th Street, some on the block straddling the Stockyards and Clark-Fulton neighborhoods still often think about the tragedy.
“I wish that wouldn’t have happened, but it did,” said Jennifer Ellis.
Ellis witnessed the 17-year-old driver hit the child and take off in April 2022. Shortly after the crash, her daughter’s father made and posted his own metal sign that says “slow down, kids play here.” She said it didn’t stop cars from speeding down the street.
“She stays in the yard,” Ellis said of her 3-year-old daughter. “If she comes out of the yard, she’s with me. I’m holding her hand. I don’t let her out of my sight because I know how these cars are.”
Another neighbor, Khadija White, bought her grandchildren new bicycles for Christmas but requires them to ride only on the sidewalk. She said speeding has been an issue on the street since the family moved into their house 14 years ago.
“These streets are full of kids and you’ve got to slow down,” White said.
W. 50th Street is among 10 locations around Cleveland where the city began testing speed tables in August. The areas were selected for the pilot program based on data collected on traffic, speeding, proximity to schools and parks and concerns reported by neighbors.
“The impact on people’s lives and their safety in their homes and their yards is measurable,” said Calley Mersmann, Cleveland’s senior strategist for transit and mobility.
Five months into the pilot program, the city began asking neighbors and drivers for feedback. This month, it released the results from nearly nine months of data and community responses.
77 percent of respondents said they would support adding more speed tables throughout the city. Across the ten pilot locations, average speeds were 7.8 miles per hour slower after the speed tables were installed.
“On the whole, people are very supportive of the program and look to the city to expand it,” Mersmann said.
News 5 used a radar gun to monitor speeds on W. 50th Street Monday. No one was clocked driving faster than 20 miles per hour. However, some neighbors said they regularly see speeding vehicles, despite the speed table.
“Something else got to be done because there’s people still speeding,” Ellis said.
White added, “They get to the speed bump, slow down and then they take off. They take back off.”
The city plans to expand its speed table program and other traffic calming measures in the coming months, as part of its “Vision Zero” initiative to eliminate serious traffic-related injuries and deaths.
Some neighbors said they appreciate the efforts, but also believe drivers should be more careful behind the wheel.
“People have to be mindful. It’s not up to the mayor, it’s not up to City Council, it’s up to the people,” White said.
Mersmann said more speed tables will be installed by the summer months. The city will also focus on traffic calming measures, such as traffic circles and intersection treatments on some of Cleveland’s busiest corridors.
