WINSLOW — Last Wednesday, Aug. 29, a meeting was held between the Coopertown residents in Winslow and city officials to discuss options in traffic control. Former Winslow councilman Thomas Chacon has been acting as a liaison for the residents of the Coopertown neighborhood in their quest for traffic control in their area. In June, Chacon penned a letter, along with a completed petition to Mayor Tom McCauley that read, “We the undersigned residents have encountered a continuous problem on our streets. Speeding, in excess of the posted speed limit.” The petition holds 59 signatures of residents in the area.
Chacon’s letter pointed out the relatively high volume of traffic in the area, and that concern of the residents is the elderly and the youth of the community that use the streets. Speeding in Coopertown is a concern due to the fact that multiple children live and play in the area. They also made mention of the multiple dogs that have been hit and killed by speeding vehicles. Further, one resident shared an experience of his parked truck being totaled by a vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed on Central Street.
Councilman Ricky Jackson attended the meeting and said, “I know that animals have been killed, I know that with as many kids as we have in Coopertown, we need to do something. I clocked traffic a couple of weeks ago with my stopwatch and the average speed through here was about 47 miles per hour. I have seen it myself and I know your concern. I am here to listen to your stories today, but I know that we need to move to action.” Residents took turns voicing their fears and concerns with the speeding through their neighborhood. The posted speed limit through Coopertown is 25 mph.
Sandra Vasquez, a lifelong resident of Coopertown said, “Between the hours of 4 p.m. until two or three or five in the morning, they are speeding. We have sat on our porch and seen people passing each other because one is doing the speed limit and the other wants to get around them. Even school busses speed through here. Another problem, and my biggest pet peeve is that there is no police patrolling. We need patrolling in this area for the simple reason of the speeding.”
Winslow Police Chief Dan Brown addressed Vasquez’s concern. “At any given time, we are running with two or three people at a time on the road. We are understaffed. You are right that sometimes our response is longer than it should be, we get here as soon as we can.” He explained that often, more violent or serious crimes take precedence over traffic control issues, but that the funding for such traffic details does exist.
“We have about $14,000 in funds that we need to spend this month from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. The problem is, my officers don’t want to, or in most cases, cannot work the overtime that would be required to patrol speeders in this area, or any area.”
Resident Theresa Chavez asked, “Can’t we take care of them on our own? I mean, hold them until you can get there?” Brown responded, “I would not encourage anyone who isn’t trained to take on anyone. I don’t want you dealing with those folks and getting hurt. However, block watches work to empower you to be our eyes and ears to call us when you see something. Volunteers are great. It takes a community effort.”
The residents also voiced their desire to install speed slowing devices on the streets of their neighborhood. Chacon’s petition said, “Calming devices (speed bumps) have not been tried, they have been effective in other communities.” Brown said, “Speed bumps are a portion of the answer. Anytime you have speed slowing measures, you have to keep in mind firetrucks and ambulances, first responders.”
City of Winslow Public Works Director Tim Westover added, “We are looking at speed humps, rather than speed bumps because we only need to slow traffic to about 25 miles per hour. We would have to check with ADOT (Arizona Department of Transportation) because we do close down Highway 87 at least once a year, and Central Street needs to be maintained as an alternate route and meet ADOT regulations.”
Brown stated, “There are also laws and rules attached to traffic control, so all of that would have to be researched.”
Winslow City Manager Steve Pauken discussed an idea for slowing the traffic through Coopertown. “We don’t think that the first thing we do is necessarily going to be the right solution. I think that the kind of speed bumps that you can place and move are the best way to deal with the situation because if they turn out to not be the right solution, we can pull them up and move them. We would like to try that, with your advice.
“So, what we would like to do is work with a small group, or committee in the neighborhood to determine where those should go. That committee would then work together with Tim (Westover) and Chief Brown. There is a traffic manual that has to be referred to in order to make sure what we do is enforceable.”
The residents agreed with Pauken on forming a committee. He continued, “Maybe in six months, maybe sooner, we will reevaluate the situation and see if they are effective, or if we think they should be moved to another location. At whatever point, you all are satisfied that what is in place is working for the neighborhood, perhaps we make it more permanent.”
Pauken concluded, “This isn’t going to solve every problem. There is no single solution here. What we are willing to do, if we can be flexible with this, is work together to get the best solution.”
