This is an open letter to the city’s elected officials, Transportation and Environmental Services, and the police chief.
From time to time I read of residents and their neighborhood association complain about cut-through traffic and speeding. When I lived in Rosemont it was an issue on Commonwealth and Russel Road, then in Old Town on Bashford, but interestingly not Powhattan.
For the last few years I have lived in an apartment on S. Whiting Street just around the corner where the pedestrians were struck in the crosswalk two Fridays ago. Stevenson Avenue, S. Whiting, and Yoakum Parkway, where often the average driven speed is 35mph, often 40-plus, is in need of serious help. Rarely do I see the police in my neighborhood or a vehicle being pulled over for speeding. I don't know if it is because half the traffic is cut-through from Edsall and Van Dorn to I-395 or because I live in a neighborhood flush with a diverse mix of immigrants.
I laugh every time you put up those portable flashing speed devices. We are a neighborhood with little to no voice at city hall and hope that you all would spend some time witnessing the careless and often reckless speeding in my neighborhood .... a.m. or p.m. rush hour would be best for a first-hand experience. Speed tables would be nice, but I realize with the downward/upward slope with Stevenson to Yoakum presents some challenges.
As for my previous letter, the intersection I spoke of is Gibbon Street at Rt. 1 where on seemingly any weekday you could write up 100 tickets during evening rush hour for improper left turns from the right lane. At a rate of 1-5 cars per light cycle, I am being conservative.
Bill Duran
Alexandria