Like a lot of local roads in the area, at the top of a hill near downtown Globe, there is a narrow, steep road with no shoulders and blind corners winding through a residential area. The speed limit is 15 miles an hour, but it is so steep, one could maybe argue it’s an easy road to speed down unknowingly.
This is Hackney Hill, and GMT spoke to two residents who live on this road and expressed concerns about drivers speeding down the hill.
One of these residents asked to remain anonymous in this article to avoid any backlash from the surrounding community. He says he sees cars speeding past his house on a daily basis.
“I've already almost been in multiple accidents; I've almost been hit by people in their vehicles just checking my mail,” he says. “I've almost been T-boned multiple times backing out of my driveway.”
“Even if it's people that are just doing it mindlessly, not even on purpose, that's how accidents happen,” he adds. “It's the capability of someone to just fly down that hill.”
He says he has presented at city council on the issue and directly brought his concerns to the Globe’s city management, city council, and police over the years, yet the problem remains.
Donna Robinson is the other resident GMT spoke with. She says the road conditions cause people to speed down the road. Not only is the road steep, it has loose gravel and dirt and causes cars to slide, she says.
“We do have a speeding problem, but nobody's doing it on purpose,” she says. “It's the conditions of the road, having that sand and grit on it… So they're going too fast and they're going to slide.”
Both residents agree that additional signage and speed bumps should be placed in the area.
Robinson states that another neighbor on Hackney has also brought concerns about these issues to the city within the last several years.
“They've asked to put signs up, caution signs, ‘children playing,’ ‘keep it slow,’ ‘steep hill,’ whatever you’ve got to do,” she says.
Globe Police Chief Walters has spoken with GMT’s anonymous source on this issue and says this is the only individual who has brought this concern about this location to his department.
“Traffic is kind of a big deal for us and me specifically,” he says. “But we've stepped up our enforcement efforts considerably with traffic across the board, whether it's school zones or the main drags.”
Walters says he has worked to address the problem at Hackney Hill by assigning sergeants to the area and also put a speed radar trailer there. He also says it is a narrow street and a difficult area to perform traffic enforcement.
“I would also tell you that I think on that narrow of a road and that steep of a grade, judging speed is a little difficult without an actual radar gun,” he says.
A speed radar trailer has a display that shows drivers what speed they’re driving at, whereas a radar gun is a handheld device law enforcement can point directly at a car to determine how fast it is moving.
“Sure, it's well posted at 15 miles an hour,” Walters says of Hackney Hill. “The issue is I'm quite sure people go over that, but we have to actually see it.”
“They're just not catching anybody speeding. I'm not saying that his complaint is unwarranted; it's just we haven't had success in finding the issues,” he adds. “We would like to find a solution for his concerns. But at the same time, we have to be able to catch them in the act. And I can't park somebody there 24/7.”
Walters sees part of the speeding problem as a result of the historic architecture of these communities.
“This is a 140-year-old community,” he says. “The vast majority of the roads and stuff that, when they were originally designed, were not designed for automobiles. They were designed for horses and wagons, and they haven't really changed,” he continues.
“Part of it's going to be creative solutions. I don't know that enforcement is your solution for that particular area,” Walters says. “Public works and engineering might be the solution.”
Robinson suggests the city provide street sweeping to clean up the loose rocks, trim back foliage that blocks blind corners, and install guardrails and asphalt where it is needed. GMT’s anonymous source suggests the city also performs a study on speeding in the area.
Globe City Manager Paul Jepson did not respond to a request for comment.
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