June 2 – If you blink, you’ll miss it.
That’s the problem Kari Converse faces. Converse sent me two photos of what she called “stealth” speed bumps in her neighborhood. It took a good squint and a helpful red arrow to distinguish the speed bumps on southbound Monroe from the regular asphalt.
Converse said the road was repaved last year from Highland High School south. But the two speed bumps between Zuni and Trumbull have remained asphalt-colored ever since.
“I know where they are and I don’t drive past Monroe anyway, but we’ve had complaints from guests who didn’t know them and couldn’t see them,” Converse said. “If you drive over those bumps at the speed limit and don’t have a high clearance vehicle, you can damage your car.”
The Ministry of Municipal Development agrees that unmarked speed bumps are a problem.
“Speed bumps should have markings so drivers don’t miss them,” DMD spokesman Dan Mayfield said in an email to the Journal.
Devout Road Warrior readers may remember that there is a season for striping. In cold weather, the stripe, a combination of reflective tape and paint, may not adhere properly to the road. Now that the weather is warming up, Mayfield says, that stretch of road – and other locations around the city – is on the list for striping and should be scheduled soon.
Signs and stripes forever
Christa asks, “Why would the work at the Wyoming/Menaul intersection take so long?”
Let’s rewind.
Menaul and Wyoming construction was first announced in September 2023, with an expected completion date of this summer.
The theme was out with the old, in with the new. There was a decades-old traffic light with wires and endless right turns through Victor Circle (which the city said was a pedestrian hazard).
There will be new fiber optic cables, new traffic lights, new street lighting, new signs and stripes. Part of the project also included addressing deficiencies in the Americans with Disabilities Act and resurfacing the area’s asphalt.
In short: large-scale construction.
But the end is in sight. Mayfield said the project is still on track to be completed this summer — actually next month — despite delays due to a “contractor error in laying the asphalt.”
