ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - In St. Louis, getting projects like speed humps installed often depends on aldermanic pull or knowing the right people.
Ninth Ward Alderman Michael Browning is proposing changes to simplify the process.
"The process as it occurs right now means we have to pass a board bill to create speed hump," said Browning on 'Total Information A.M'. "That's a weeks-long process. Our colleagues vote on it. It's very silly."
"It takes over a year to actually get it installed."
Browning wants to streamline making our streets safer by using a "resident-initiated-process" that is overseen by the newly-formed Department of Transportation, not the city council.
Browning says the new resident-initiated process was inspired through Nashville's Department of Transportation, where residents can request traffic structures for their street and then allow traffic engineers to decide what is needed for the street, not city council members.
"We have lifted that from Nashville and are applying to a policy here in St. Louis," said Browning. "What I really like about it is that it is still very resident driven, but it puts the design in the hands of the experts."
Browning says initially it will still require aldermanic funding, but eventually he would to see the newly-formed Department of Transportation to have it own funds for traffic calming, similar to Nashville.
"(Nashville) started with about $500,000 when they started this program, but quickly found out that is not enough and their budget has grown to about $3 million every year," said Browning.
"They were very helpful in helping us draft this policy, but we know you can't copy and paste from one city to the next. We all have different styles of government, so we tried to adapt this to what St. Louis needs."