DETROIT (WWJ) – An initiative to make Detroit’s neighborhood roads safer for drivers and residents hit a milestone on Wednesday.
City officials celebrated, fittingly on “Hump Day,” as they installed the city’s 10,000th speed hump.
Located on Rutherford Street near Mansfield-Diversey Park – in the area of Greenfield Road and Tireman Avenue on the city’s west side – the speed hump is part of a larger project that began back in 2018.
The program initially launched as a pilot in an attempt to slow drivers down, and Deputy Mayor Todd Bettison said Wednesday it’s working.
“There have been fewer accidents, and as a result, the public has demanded more and more speed humps throughout the city of Detroit,” Bettison said at a press conference.
Bettison says traffic studies have shown on blocks where speed humps have been installed, the average speed is about 20 mph. Detroit police data shows neighborhood crashes have decreased by 20%, according to Bettison.
City officials said last year they had received over 20,000 requests from residents to install speed humps in their neighborhoods.
Not to be confused with speed bumps that may be seen in grocery store or hospital parking lots, speed humps are more narrow and have a longer driving distance than bumps, while aiming to control speed to about 25 mph, according to myparkingsign.com.
City officials also celebrated the occasion with Sanders' "Bumpy Cake."