Speed humps necessary for this Pittsburgh neighborhood due to outsiders, woman says

PITTSBURGH — The controversial speed humps in Polish Hill are now in, and neighbors explained why they are needed.

Not everyone was on board at first, but residents in the area have come around to the idea.

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People who live on Melwood Avenue told Channel 11 that outside drivers are the reason why those speed humps are necessary.

“Because they don’t live here, they tend to go way too fast. They’re not paying attention,” said Kim Teplitzky, president of the Polish Hill Civic Association. “They don’t know where the curves and blind spots are, so it creates a dangerous situation – all of this cut through traffic.”

Teplitzky said that is why she helped create a plan to get the speed humps on Melwood.

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Six of them just went in this week and still need to be painted. While Channel 11 crews were out there, we noticed some cars going slow over them and others not reducing their speed at all.

“These are designed specifically to be a balance to slow down traffic, but also to make sure that neighbors cars aren’t getting damaged,” said Teplitzky.

Neighbors are the ones Teplitzky said she has been working with to calm the traffic. She said nearly all of them who park on Melwood Avenue had their cars hit at some point.

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Between community meetings, a survey and tables at neighborhood events, Teplitzky said hundreds have given their input. Last year, the association worked with councilwoman Deb Gross’ office to get funding to calm traffic.

Then, city engineers weighed in.

“The engineers are able to say based on research and data, based on laws and policy, ‘Here’s the solutions we think would be appropriate in these situations,’” Teplitzky said.

She told Channel 11 more traffic calming projects near a children’s bus stop and another major cut-through in Polish Hill are also in the works.

Cox Media Group