Albany business owner pushing for speed bumps downtown

ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) – A downtown business is asking drivers to slow down. The store owner is advocating for either speed bumps or more signage.

WALB’s Molly Godley dig into what it takes to put those precautions in place.

One downtown business owner Kawambee Dorsey said they notice people speeding later in the afternoon making it particularly dangerous for kids.

“People getting off of work after 5 pm, we’ve noticed people going around the corner a little fast and that has become a concern,” said Dorsey.

Dorsey is one of the owners of the Showroom located on the front street downtown near several parks, the Flint River Aquarium and other family-friendly businesses. Dorsey said she’s seen some close calls.

“One time I saw somebody getting ready to cross the street but then they looked to the left and a car was coming pretty fast, so the mother had to pull her child back it’s concerning,” said Dorsey.

Some alternatives Dorsey thought would be helpful are speed bumps signage and surveillance to help slow people down.

The city of Albany, traffic and engineering department stated that to get speed bumps, residents would have to send a letter to the engineering department at 240 Pine Avenue, Suite 200, Albany, GA 31701.

After that, the department would use radar to see how fast vehicles are going during a speed study. This takes 7 days.

If the results find that the majority of drivers are speeding, the person who sent the letter would need to collect signatures from other property owners to move forward with speed bumps.

The traffic and engineering department also said for that area where Dorsey is located, they use signs at the mid-block crosswalks to help alert drivers to the crosswalk. They added that the curve design at the Front Street is designed to slow traffic speed.

The city said it will evaluate other options as new traffic calming measures become available.

Copyright 2022 WALB. All rights reserved.