SIDE STREETS: City doesn’t have the cash to slow down some speeders

   Joan Turner wants speed humps. Greg Rodriguez wants a roundabout and police speed traps. Bob Neff would be happy with a couple of stop signs.

   Residents of North Prospect Street across from Patty Jewett Golf Course want anything to slow down cars roaring through their neighborhood.

   Unfortunately, no relief is in sight for Prospect or dozens of other Colorado Springs neighborhoods dealing with speeding.

   No money exists in the city budget for any new "traffic calming" projects in 2008. Prospect residents are worried and angry.

   "People are flying through here, and someone is going to get killed," Rodriguez said.

   Prospect, a residential street, averages 750 cars a day. It's unusual because Patty Jewett's main gate is smack in the middle. (See a map on my Side Streets blog at www.gazette.com)

   It's also narrow, and there is no curb, gutter or sidewalk along the east side adjacent to the course.

   Neighbors get especially upset this time of year. Spring always makes the speeding more dangerous because it's a time when more residents are out strolling with their kids and pets.

   "I'm surprised somebody hasn't gotten hit or run over," Turner said, noting that the street had a couple of wrecks in the past year.

   Spring also means golf, and the next few months will bring additional traffic issues at dawn and dusk.

   In the mornings, Prospect residents wake up to a line of cars parked on the east side of the street as early birds line up at the gate for dawn tee times.

   The line of cars makes Prospect even trickier to negotiate for commuters ducking off Paseo Road to avoid the goofy intersection with Fontanero and El Paso streets and for parents driving their kids to nearby Taylor Elementary School.

   Evenings, residents say they must be alert for golfers leaving the course after drinking at the clubhouse.

   "They come out and fly down the street," Rodriguez said. "They are going 40, 50, 70 miles per hour."

   He is so concerned he won't let his 4-year-old son play in the front yard.

   Springs traffic engineer Dave Krauth and planner Kristin Bennett are sympathetic and agree that Prospect has issues.

   But there is no quick solution, mainly because they have no money. So, unless the neighborhood wants to finance a project - humps can run upwards of $3,000 apiece - it will simply have to wait and see what the 2009 budget brings.

   "We ranked them as a medium priority," Bennett said. "We are still collecting data and will carry their request over to next year."

   Krauth said there are no other options - not even a stop sign - to slow traffic.

   "We do not use stop signs to control speed," he said. "We would love to go out and do many more neighborhoods each year. We're not ignoring them. It's simply a fact we have limited resources."

Tell us about your neighborhood: 636-0193 or bill.vogrin@gazette.com