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Controlling Speeders

Sunday, August 10, 1997; Page C06
The Washington Post 

The Montgomery County Council and County Executive Doug
Duncan just don't get it. First humps, then circles and now
beautiful (and expensive) flower islands that have no
speed-deterring effect whatsoever [Metro, July 23]. All have
failed to reduce speeding on most county streets and highways.
It is true that some individual streets with these devices have
benefited from slower traffic, but speeders still have an open
field on the rest of the county roads. Enforcement and
punishment are the only ways in which the streets of
Montgomery County will be made safer.

The installation and approval of as many as 1,000 humps at
about $1,500 each totals $1.5 million. The circles add to this
cost. And now, with flower islands costing probably $6,000 to
$8,000 a piece, we are -- as they say -- talking real money.
And not a single speeder will be "calmed" on non-fitted roads.
It's your (and my) money, whether from federal, state or
county funds. Graham Norton, director of public works and
transportation for Montgomery County, has been given too
much money and is spending it quickly without any thought on
the part of the executive or the council to the real objective:
controlling speeding everywhere.

It's far better to apply these funds to additional police efforts to
spot and ticket speeding motorists than to achieve a slower
pace on a few neighborhood streets where most accidents do
not occur.

JOSEPH P. HAMER

Rockville 

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