The Department of Transportation has denied residents’ request for a second speed hump on Stadium Avenue. The Spencer Estate Civic Association will lodge an appeal, president Al Carena said. Spencer Estate residents have nicknamed Stadium Avenue between Pelham Bay Park and Ampere Avenue “Indianapolis Motor Speedway.” Motorists pop out of Pelham Bay Park and scream into Spencer Estate.
At the June meeting of the Spencer Estate Civic Association, a Stadium Avenue resident dubbed the two-lane residential block unsafe. At least 20 children live on the block; one is bound to get hurt, Cirino Borgia said. Borgia has lived on Stadium Avenue for 42 years. The street heats up from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m., he said. Offending motorists, who hit 40 miles per hour, are young and old. Most are neighborhood residents.
“I watched a girl race down the street, make a u-turn and race back,” Borgia said. “DOT needs to be here at night.”
Carena alerted Senator Jeff Klein to the problem in September and Klein sent a speed hump request to DOT. There is a stop sign at Stadium Avenue and Ampere Avenue.
“When a car exits the park, it doesn’t slow down,” Carena said. “It’ll rip onto Ampere Avenue.”
DOT denied the request after considering a handful of factors, including the number of curb cuts on Stadium Avenue, traffic volume and accident history.
“We aren’t going to give up,” Carena said. “I think we have a good shot. There are no bus routes on this portion of Ampere.”
DOT won’t build a speed hump on Ampere Avenue because the Bx14 bus uses that street. In September, Carena circulated a petition to support the Stadium Avenue speed hump and collected some 60 signatures. Now that DOT has denied the request, he’ll circulate a new petition.
“In the summer, the park is a mob scene – no open basketball courts, no open tennis courts,” Borgia said. “I have a granddaughter. We need a speed hump. We need to fight.”
Captain Dimitrios Roumeliotis of the 45th Precinct answered questions at the Spencer Estate Civic Association meeting on Wednesday, June 17. Borgia suggested that Roumeliotis dispatch an unmarked police car to the corner of Stadium Avenue and Middletown Road.
The other speed hump on Stadium Avenue is between Polo and Parsifal places.
