Trying to tap the brakes on speeding drivers

Once the traffic light at San Felipe turns green, there is little stopping southbound drivers along Chimney Rock Road. A few gentle curves and cul-desacs among the houses are all that break up a straightaway that many drivers know only as their link to Westheimer.

In short order, two sedans, a pickup and a minivan speed by Mark Gardner’s house. Moments later he confirms the first sedan was traveling 47 mph.

The speed limit is 30 mph — same as it is along many Houston streets with speeding cars.

“They think it is a freeway,” Gardner said in October, standing in his yard as traffic whizzed by.

“You have people going 77 mph.” Those are not estimates in terms of speed. They are results, part of a growing collection of data created by a DIY speed zone Gardner is using to make his case that changes are needed on Chimney Rock.

He’s hardly the only person pressing for a solution to speeding in front of his house — the city has a backlog of projects in its traffic management program and can only fund a handful of projects annually — but he might be the most enthusiastic about getting something done, despite the city telling him repeatedly there is nothing to do.

For $220 — the cost of a radar gun and WiFi-enabled dashcam mounted on a wooden stand — Gardner has rigged a speed detector in his front yard to capture some of the scofflaws. He then posts the edited results to a YouTube page pointing out the unabated speed violations.

“It is not to embarrass any driver,” Gardner said, noting he is careful to keep the camera on his property and uses a disclaimer on the videos to say he

Speeding continues on A8