Derby Mayor Proposes 'Speed Tables' To Slow Traffic On Two Streets

DERBY — Mayor Rich Dziekan wants the city to install four ​“traffic calming speed tables” on Hawkins Street and Sodom Lane.

The speed tables cost $1,400 each and Dziekan said they can be paid for using money from the state’s local capital improvement program (LOCIP). Click here for info on LOCIP.

Speed tables are like speed bumps, but longer and less severe than traditional speed bumps. The idea is to get traffic to slow down. The devices also come with lots of signs meant to warn drivers they’re approaching a speed table. The signs are also meant to get drivers to pay attention to what’s in front of them, as opposed to being distracted by cell phones and whatever else they have in the vehicle.

Dziekan said he wants the speed tables on Hawkins and Sodom to be a test program for Derby. Speeding is a constant complaint in Derby, the mayor noted, so the idea is to see whether the devices are effective on Hawkins and Sodom, and then possibly put them on other roads.

Dziekan said residents on Hawkins Street, a narrow road in west Derby with lots of houses and families, told him speeding cars were a major concern when the mayor was knocking on doors during campaign season.

Dziekan said motorists coming off Seymour Avenue to Hawkins Street tend to travel especially fast. The mayor, along with new Derby zoning enforcement officer Kevin White, suggested the traffic-calming devices be placed near 10th and 11th streets on Hawkins.

Dziekan lives in the Sodom Lane area. He said the success of The Hops Co., a craft beer garden, has resulted in a major influx of traffic. Dziekan said he walks the area often, and is becoming increasingly worried that someone is going to get hit by a car.

White said the administration suggested the devices be placed on Sodom Lane near Krakow Street and then again in front of The Hops Co.

“I wanted to do one on the west side and one on the east side (of the city),” Dziekan said.

Dziekan introduced the speed table concept during the March 14 meeting of the Derby Board of Police Commissioners. The discussion on the topic begins about 17 minutes into the meeting. The video is posted below.

Derby Police Chief Gerald Narowski said he was neither for nor against the devices — but asked that the use be backed up with data. The chief noted that Derby went through a phase of adding multiple stop signs to roads to slow traffic, but found the multiple stop signs on a single road actually caused drivers to increase speed.

Thomas Lenart, Sr., the chairman of the police commission, asked that the Derby Board of Aldermen/Alderwomen get involved, and that the matter go for a wider discussion during which members of the public can weigh in.

Lenart said he also reached out to officials in New Haven and East Haven, where the speed tables are already in use, and was told they’ve helped to slow traffic in those communities.
​“It’s worth a try, I think, to see what the results are,” Lenart said.

Lenart also said if Derby has a good experience with the devices, the city must establish a formal criteria for where they go, as requests will be voluminous.

Derby Police Commissioner Richard Bartholomew noted the fact residents along Academy Hill Road in Derby appeared at several police commission meetings asking for help with speeding and crashes on that road. However, the design of the road makes enforcement tough since there’s no room to pull motorists over. Speed bumps or speed tables were ruled out because the devices should not be placed on hills for safety reasons.

Dziekan said the matter would next travel to the desk of a Derby Board of Aldermen & Alderwomen subcommittee.
Ideally the devices would be installed in the summer, Dziekan said, depending on how the issue fares in front of the city’s legislature. The speed tables would be permanent, meaning snow plows would have to raise the plow to go over. Narowski said placing them on a staggered basis, so that emergency vehicles could drive around them, could be considered.