The speed humps that have become commonplace on city streets were designed to slow vehicles down, thus providing a measure of safety for pedestrians and bicyclists and relief for residents tired of seeing speeding vehicles use their street as a cut-through.
But mention the city’s speed hump program in any fire station around Buffalo and you’re likely to be met with grumbles and eye rolls. And worse.
Speed humps
Nearly everyone agrees that speed humps, like these seen along Lafayette Avenue between Richmond and Delaware avenues, are good for public safety. They’re just not very convenient when you need to be somewhere in a hurry – like a house fire or crime in progress, say members of the city’s first responder community.
Speed 'hump' program aims to slow motorists in city neighborhoods
A pilot program to reduce speeding in Buffalo began this week with the temporary installation of 10 speed humps in five city neighborhoods. The locations were based on residential complaints to the Mayor’s 311 Call and Resolution Line and from requests from the Department of Public Works and Buffalo Police, said Mayor Byron W. Brown. The speed humps are rubber mounds placed
One firefighter, who spoke to The News on the condition he not be named because of an internal policy that prohibits rank-and-file members from speaking to the press without permission, shook his head as he buffed the side of a glimmering fire rig. The firefighter said that the humps have caused the trucks to need service more often and firefighters to reroute to avoid streets where many have been installed.
He said it can be frustrating when you want to get to a call as fast as possible.
“They make it so we have to change our whole route sometimes,” he said.
In conversations with five firefighters, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity, similar complaints came up time and again.
Buffalo Fire Commissioner William Renaldo said he understands the frustration some of his department’s members have expressed. But he also noted that the department has to be responsive to the concerns of the residents they serve.
“Our firefighters, anything that’s impeding their travel time, things of that nature they’re gonna be concerned about,” he said. “We’re concerned about it as well.”
The speed humps are mounds placed on streets to slow traffic. Their shape is more gradual and elongated than that of speed bumps, which are commonly used in parking lots where speeds already are lower and there is less chance of a motorist losing control when hitting one.
Speed humps
A sign warns of a speed hump on Woodward Avenue, Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024.
Renaldo acknowledged that the humps are particularly hard on his fleet, as the heaviest trucks weigh tens of thousands of pounds. Still, he said department leadership remains in favor of the program, even if they are seeking tweaks – like where they are placed and how many are installed – to try to improve traffic safety while also making things less disruptive for first responders.
“The speed humps are a quality-of-life issue,” he said. “It’s a safety issue, and as a department, we’re fully supportive of the initiative.”
Firefighters, police EMTs and other public safety officials also respond to car crashes, the results of which are sometimes horrific, especially when cars hit pedestrians or cyclists.
A 12-year-old boy was hit and killed by a truck on the city’s West Side in 2021. A cyclist was killed by a car downtown in 2022.
While speed is not necessarily a primary factor in all fatal crashes, public safety officials agree that the speed humps do make the streets where they have been installed safer.
Julie Christiano, a retired Buffalo Public Schools teacher, tried and failed to get speed humps installed on her street in the city’s North Park neighborhood after a survey of her neighbors showed that a majority of respondents did not want them installed.
Christiano, who lives near Colvin Boulevard, said she consistently sees cars speeding down her street, many of which she suspects are being driven not by residents but by those cutting through the residential neighborhood. Christiano said she does not have children of her own but many of her neighbors do.
“I don’t have children, so I’m just watching myself,” she said. “But I obviously care about the people on the street.”
The city has put the program on a temporary hold as officials work to balance the public safety concerns. Department of Public Works Commissioner Nate Marton said he has been in talks with fire and police department leadership as they decide where to go with the program.
Now that the humps – more than 1,800 are on city streets – have been in place for several years, the city has more data to indicate whether the wear and tear on public safety equipment is worse since the humps have been installed, he said.
“I think, in their desire and their attempt and their need to get to whatever emergency situation, they’re trying to go as quickly as they can,” Marton said.
Marton said that the program is popular in many neighborhoods and has helped reduce speeding on residential streets. So he and public safety officials are now working to find a balance – they are considering different hump designs and other solutions – as they try to provide safety on the roads and for residents who call in emergency situations.
“What’s the balance of helping slow down traffic, but yet doing it appropriately for some of the equipment that we want to move around quickly?” he said.
Speed humps
Rows of speed humps along Lafayette Avenue between Richmond and Delaware Avenues, Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024.
Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said the issues with wear and tear on his fleet have lessened since the department switched from cars to SUVs.
Since moving to Ford Explorers in 2020, part of a national trend that had nothing to do with the speed humps, the department has fewer issues with repairs on the fleet, he added.
“When you look at the size of our fleet, and you look at the overall numbers, it really wasn’t a lot to speak of,” Gramaglia said.
Gramaglia said his department consistently hears from residents and community groups concerned about speeding through their neighborhoods, and the speed humps are an effective and low resource way to reduce speeding in residential neighborhoods.
“We’ve gotten, throughout the years, a significant number of complaints about traffic and speeding from community groups to 311 calls,” he said. “You can’t be everywhere all the time.”
Gramaglia said he has not asked patrol officers about their feelings on the speed humps and has not heard complaints. But he understands why some officers or other public safety workers may be concerned, especially when responding to high priority calls.
“Speeding complaints always seem to be a top complaint,” Gramaglia said. “The whole purpose of that was to come up with environmental ways to slow traffic down. But was it too many, too fast and too many in such a short span? I don’t know. That’s something that we’re all talking about that’s got to be looked at.”
Christiano, the retired Buffalo teacher, says she is sympathetic to the concerns of public safety officials.
“I’m totally understanding of first responders needing to get there fast,” Christiano said.
Christiano, who emphasized her support of police, describing them as overworked and underpaid, said there must be some solution to reduce speeding through residential neighborhoods while lessening the impact on response time and the state of the equipment.
“I think probably there needs to be some discussion, study, maybe more emphasis of the police are catching speeders,” she said.
She said as she understands, police and fire commissioners already have a say in where the speed humps are installed. Perhaps they should play a larger role in strategizing the best locations based on how frequently they are used by public safety officials.
She said she’s also heard neighbors with older cars complain of the wear and tear on personal vehicles caused by the speed humps.
But whether it’s speed humps or another solution, something still needs to be done about speeders, she said.
“I’m more than willing to research or study or talk or compromise,” Christiano said. “I think the better answer all along would have been some kind of traffic enforcement, or the lower the speed limit on streets, on the residential streets.”
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