Speed Humps

Residents eager to see whether the City Council will vote to implement a traffic calming master plan in the Mountain/Rossmoyne area Tuesday will have to wait. Officials took the item off the council's agenda to do additional study on the issue, City Manager Jim Starbird said. "We're taking it off for more evaluation and even more exploration of different alternatives," he said. "Rather than this continue to be a three-ring circus with no conclusion, we're holding it over to get more information and continue to work with the residents who have competing views on this to see if we can arrive at some consensus or conclusion."

SPEED HUMPS The City Council on Tuesday approved the installation of nine speed humps in various parts of the city to slow down traffic. Three speed humps are to be installed on Harvard Street between Pacific and Kenilworth avenues; three others on Alameda Avenue between Kenneth and Glenwood roads; and the final three on Patterson Avenue between Kenilworth Avenue and Concord Street. They were approved by the Transportation and Parking Commission in August. WHAT IT MEANS Each trio of speed humps is estimated to cost $12,000.

Tim Willert Traffic circles are out and lumps are in under a plan approved by the City Council to reduce speeding in the Mountain/Rossmoyne area. After hearing from more than 30 mostly impassioned speakers, the council voted unanimously late Tuesday to remove seven temporary circles, permanently install 23 speed lumps, retain 10 speed humps and raise painted medians in the area bordered by Brand Boulevard, Mountain Street, Glendale Avenue and Monterey Road.

Several denizens of Glendale's residential neighborhoods have weighed in recently on the appropriateness and efficacy of traffic-calming measures in their areas. The most common of these devices take three forms. There's speed humps, which force drivers to slow down lest their suspensions shoot them into the air when they hit the raised pavement; traffic circles, which steer drivers into a roundabout where they eventually can turn off onto the street they want (no criss-crossed streets)

Most of council make right choice on humps Our family would like to publicly thank Mayor Rafi Manoukian and City Councilmen Frank Quintero and Dave Weaver for supporting traffic-calming measures -- not just on Highland Avenue, where we live, but in the handful of streets discussed at the meeting ("Council OKs speed humps," Thursday). After a thorough review of the issue, they weighed the alternatives and decided that speed humps were the best, albeit imperfect, solution.

ON THE AGENDA The following items will be considered at tonight's City Council meeting: ELECTION COSTS The council will consider approving a payment of $277,700 to cover the costs of the April 5 general election. That figure exceeds the funds remaining in the election budget by $26,700, according to a city staff report. Martin & Chapman Co., the city's election consultants, is attributing the increase to the larger number of candidates on the ballot, 43 versus an initial estimate of 32, which required an additional ballot card.

Tim Willert CITY HALL -- Help could be on the way for residents of Fern Lane between Verdugo Road and Delisle Court, the only street accessible to the Glendale Sports Complex. Since the complex was completed more than two years ago, residents have put up with increased traffic, speeding and noise. The City Council on Tuesday will consider a number of permanent traffic-calming measures for Fern and surrounding streets, including speed humps, stop signs and traffic circles.

Tim Willert After much debate and study and even more delay, the City Council is scheduled to tackle Phase II of the city's traffic-calming master plan for the Mountain/Rossmoyne area tonight. The council will consider removing seven temporary traffic circles, installing 23 speed lumps, retaining 10 existing speed humps and raising painted medians to slow traffic speeds in the area bordered by Brand Boulevard, Mountain Street, Glendale Avenue and Monterey Road.

Tim Willert NORTHEAST GLENDALE -- They are designed to slow motorists traveling through parts of the city's Rossmoyne district. But some residents think the temporary traffic circles on Stocker and Mountain Streets are nothing but an inconvenience and an eyesore. "They force you into the middle of the street and they are extremely ugly," said Judy Lloyd, who lives in the 800 block of Cavanagh Road. "I have no idea why the city did this. It would have to be cheaper to put in a four-way stop sign."