Walnut City Council Approves Temple Avenue Speed Humps

Residents on Temple Avenue and surrounding streets concerned about speeders through their neighborhood will get the traffic-calming speed humps they recently requested.

The Walnut City Council voted 4-0 Wednesday night to approve the request for the humps on Temple between Country Hollow Drive and Heidelberg Avenue. Mayor Antonio "Tony" Cartagena was absent.

The estimated cost to put in the speed bumps is $20,000, according to City Engineer David Gilbertson.

In order to qualify for the speed humps, a certain criteria must be met, Gilbertson wrote in the staff report.  In addition, applicants must submit a petition with 65 percent or greater resident approval to the city's Traffic Safety Committee for review, he wrote.  The council gives final review and approval.

Gilbertson said Wednesday night that residential approval for the speed humps was more than 70 percent. City staff also surveyed the speed along the street and found that drivers in both directions were traveling at 37 mph, he said. The prima facie speed limit for residential streets is 25 mph unless posted otherwise, he added.

Councilwoman Mary Su said that more than three years, a child was hit by a car on that street. Many of the streets are hilly in the city and it's easy to go too fast, she said.

“As a city, we are here to support, to do whatever we can do to provide the most safety,” she said. "We need to help each other."