Brookwood residents bracing for impact
By Susanna P. Barton
Residents of Brookwood Road will be keeping close watch on the installation of speed tables on River Oaks, Lorimier and Dunsford roads this summer. Their concern? The new speed bumps may force new cut-through traffic onto their quiet residential street.
The traffic calming measures from neighboring streets are part of a comprehensive settlement agreement between residents and the developer of Philips Highway-area mixed-use development, Jackson Square. River Oaks, Lorimier and Dunsford roads are the closest Hendricks Avenue-to-Philips Highway cut-through streets to the development. Brookwood Road, however, was never slated to receive speed tables as part of the negotiations. Now that the other streets’ speed tables are being installed, Brookwood residents are waiting to see if there will be any notable fallout in terms of traffic or noise. In no hurry to ask for major changes, the residents are monitoring vehicular activity and are prepared to take action if the need arises.
“What we’re doing right now is observing — we don’t want to jump the gun and have things put in place that aren’t necessary,” said Heather Gollnick, a Brookwood Road resident who has been a de facto communicator for the group on neighborhood issues. “Right now we haven’t seen any kind of increase, but we’re alert — e’re in a wait-and-see mode at this point.”
She said the neighbors feel confident in District 5 City Councilwoman Lori Boyer’s responsiveness. But they have not yet addressed the issue with her. They have been in contact with San Marco Preservation Society about their concerns via an email to SMPS President Doug Skiles, but have not called for a formal meeting on the situation.
“Our street has a high level of confidence in Lori that if we express concerns or present a solution, it will be addressed right away,” she said.
In the meantime, residents are considering the installation of “Slow Children at Play” signs as a way to start slowing motorists down. And the group is staying in close contact with any observations. They are listening to each other’s suggestions about ways they can monitor, report and possibly thwart any fast-moving, cut-through traffic before it becomes a problem. Some of the suggestions? Make the road difficult to navigate by parking cars on the curb and putting yard waste and trash cans on the street in an effort to make the road narrower.
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