Speed Humps Battle Rages in Original Carrollwood

A standing room only crowd stood by for two hours at Carrollwood Elementary School on Thursday night to voice concerns to an independent arbitrator about the speed humps that some residents said were ubiquitous in Original Carrollwood.  Cheers and jeers, claps and boos were all heard as residents shared their views.

For the first 10 minutes of the meeting, the line crawled outside of the front door as residents signed in and reserved two minutes to speak about their love or loathe for the speed humps. Hillsborough County Public Works spokesman Steve Valdez urged attendees to remember they are were not interacting directly with the arbitrator.

“This is not a meeting to discuss,” said Valdez. “This is a meeting where the arbitrator will hear thoughts, concerns and issues.”

Wilson Lorenz, arbitrator from the IBI Group, will utilize the comments made at the public forum when he arrives at a final decision to offer to the Hillsborough Board of County Commissioner’s in late May or early June, Valdez said. The goal is to have the report submitted to the Board of County Commissioners by the second meeting in June, he said.

“All information given to the arbitrator will be analyzed, and they’ll give field investigations,” said Valdez.

As the first speakers stepped to the podium, tension mounted as people argued passionately for or against the speed humps.

Residents who were against the speed humps said that the speed humps were a waste of taxpayer dollars, looked unsightly and slowed emergency response times.

Residents like Vicki Butts see the speed humps as an example of one group imposing their will on another group of residents. Butts has been a resident of Carrollwood for 18 years, and regards the speed humps as a nuisance.

 “I plan my daily trips around the speed humps,” said Butts.  “What is more aggravating than anything is that this is my neighborhood too…I would have to go over 15 speed humps to go from point A to point B.”

Proponents of the speed humps think it’s a necessary safety feature.  

Andrew Shafii has been a resident of Carrollwood since 1979, where he grew up riding his bicycle to the baseball field. But he said due to Carrollwood's growth, combined with traffic calming measures that he said aren't effective, he wouldn't allow his son to do the same.

“Everything that the traffic calming measures have set out to do have worked, and there need to be a few more,” said Shaffi.

Scott Brown’s family has lived in Carrollwood since 1963. He said that that the measures have reduced speeding and cut through traffic.

“I can tell you that traffic speed has been reduced,” he said.

Resident Diane Gilbert said the decision to place speed humps in Original Carrollwood was largely political.

“The last speed humps they put in were at the elementary school, and that doesn’t mean they were concerned about safety,” she said “It was an excuse for the engineers to get paid big bucks.”

 Not able to make it to the meeting? Email Wilson Lorenz at wlorenz@ibigroup.com or call (813) 988-9102. You can also mail responses to 4904 Eisenhower Blvd., Suite 130, Tampa, FL 33634.