Speeders cutting through rile up Boynton folks

Parkside communities want speed bumps, but they appear unlikely.

Charles Kanter

BOYNTON BEACH — sees it.

Traffic backs up on Gateway Boulevard near the Interstate 95 interchange and a string of cars lines up to turn on to Quantum Boulevard to bypass traffic.

The Quantum-to-Congress-toHypoluxo route is becoming all too common and brings another annoyance to the neighborhood: speeding.

Kanter and his neighbors in the Parkside communities have been watching the drivers cut through for years and are worried about the safety of them- selves and their children.

They’ve asked the city to install speed bumps, similar to nearby streets drivers also use as cutthroughs.

“This street is not really made as some kind of highway,” Parkside resident Jana Jeansonne said.

But after meeting with city staff Tuesday morning, Kanter said he’s learned speed bumps are not likely and would cause more traffic noise.

The residents are at a standstill. “There’s no answer at this time,” Kanter said.

Kanter and city employees didn’t see any out-of-the-ordinary driving Tuesday morning. Jeff Livergood, the city’s retiring director of public works and engineering, said he saw an “overall safe traffic pattern” and that

“traffic volume was not high considering the early morning peak hour.”

He said there were a few cars traveling through at a higher than average speed, which he said is common to every street in the city.

Regarding speed bumps, Kanter said he was told the city hears complaints from residents who live on streets that have them about the noise cars make when speeding up after traveling over the bump and even from driving over it.

Quantum opens up to Gateway and Congress Avenue. The portion of the road closest to Congress is residential, and drivers maneuver through a roundabout that separates the Parkside Village and Parkside Square communities.

“They go the residential way, which is Quantum Boulevard. It is a shortcut. They avoid a big intersection,” Jeansonne said.

Kanter was pleased, however, that the city was interested in making the crosswalks outside the communities more prominent.

Livergood said the city is also looking at modifying pavement markings within the roundabout to give the illusion of a tighter radius, which could make drivers move slower through the roundabout.

In his pitch to the city, Kanter pointed to other roads that are used as cutthroughs that already have speed bumps: Renaissance Commons Boulevard between Old Boynton Road and Gateway and High Ridge Road between Miner Road and Hypoluxo Road.

“Quantum Blvd.Boulevard is a MAJOR shortcut between Gateway Blvd. and Congress Ave northbound,” Kanter wrote. “The lure of high-speed open driving and avoiding four traffic lights more than compensates for the extra mileage.”

Jeansonne said she didn’t think speed bumps would suffice because cars could be damaged if drivers speed over the hump. She recommended police patrol the street more and give out tickets.

“This is very, very dangerous,” she said.