City of Cleveland says speed tables are working to slow drivers down

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) -Last summer, the city of Cleveland took on a huge task: trying to slow down speeders on residential streets.

They took this on after multiple reports of crashes and heartbreaking deaths.

As part of a pilot program, crews put down speed tables at 10 locations throughout the city, many of them in residential neighborhoods. Now nine months later, City leaders are getting feedback on how it’s going.

City leaders said since these speed pilots went up last summer, they’ve slowed down drivers almost 8 miles per hour.

Last April, 5-year-old Apolina Asumani was killed by a hit-and-run driver on West 50th Street near Clark Avenue.

Neighbors were so distraught, they put up their own speed bump to slow down drivers.

Cleveland’s Senior Strategist for Transit and Mobility Calley Mersmann tells 19 News the goal was to make neighborhood streets safer.

“What research shows is that the slower the cars are moving on the roads if a crash is to happen, it’s less likely to result in a serious injury or death if the speed is slower. So on our neighborhood streets we have kids playing, we have kids out in their front yards, we really want people to be driving through those streets with the respect and safety for those living there,” said Mersmann.

But, they’re not done yet.

They’re still collecting data and Mayor Justin Bibb hopes with the City Council’s support, he can get another $3 million to install more speed tables and other safety improvements, as part of the “Back to Basics” fund.

The goal is to expand the program and install more speed tables this summer.

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