TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Scott and Karena Dawson live near Wildwood Park on the Northside and have been concerned for years for people’s safety because of drivers speeding on the streets around the park.
Wildwood Park is located at 6201 N. Parsley Road.
"They race down Coriander and Cinnamon, those are the two streets, I mean you'll hear them,” Scott Dawson said. “I mean people even come in here with the off-road raptors and stuff and you would hear them. It's like screaming down the street and it's like really?"
Their neighborhood is under the jurisdiction of Pima County which has a Neighborhood Traffic Management Program which is aimed at evaluating ways to control speed.
To participate in the program, people must be located in an unincorporated area of Pima County, have paved roads maintained by the county, a posted speed limit of 25 miles per hour and the road must be classified as 'local'.
People living in qualifying areas then move forward in the process.
Elijah Pinedo, Assistant Engineer I for Pima County Transportation said, "One person is enough to request the speed hump program, but we do require that that one person use a petition and get 60% of the affected properties nearby to sign support for the speed humps."
The program is also funded by residents.
"This current program has been in place since 1997 and no budgets, no county budgets have been allotted since then for this program,” Pinedo said.
According to Pinedo each hump costs between $3,000 to $6,000.
"We do require a minimum of two so you're looking at $7,000 to $12,000 minimum for the program and it all depends on what the contractors bid,” Pinedo said.
Scott Dawson says his neighborhood tried to go through the process 10 to 15 years ago. He says neighbors signed the petition and agreed to pay.
"We saw them put the traffic counters in with the wires across the street through Cinnamon and after that nothing was done,” Scott Dawson said.
We reached out to Pima County for more information on the neighborhood's petition and are waiting to hear back. We will continue to follow this story and keep you updated.
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Madison Thomas joined KGUN 9 in July of 2023 as a multimedia journalist. She graduated from Arizona State University in May of 2023 with a degree in journalism and mass communication. She has lived in Arizona her entire life and grew up in Douglas. Madison is thrilled to share the stories from the community she grew up in. Share your story ideas and important issues with Madison by emailing madison.thomas@kgun9.com or by connecting on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.
