By Emilie St. John
INGLEWOOD – The Inglewood City Council passed a resolution lowering speed limits in six high traffic areas, bypassing a dangerous street segment in Councilwoman Gloria Gray’s district.
The City conducted a survey of one hundred and six (106) street segments in the City to establish updated speed limits. The street segments surveyed included arterial and collector streets, as denoted in the City’s General Plan Land Use Element.1
The speed limits must be justified by a Survey that is prepared every five (5) years or extended to every seven (7) years, provided the City’s police officers have completed a 24-hour radar operator course. These provisions assure that posted speed limits are reasonably current. This does not apply to any local street, or school zone, which is assumed to have a speed limit of 25 miles per hour (mph) per CVC 22353. The City’s current Survey was completed in 2017.
According to the City’s traffic engineer Peter Puglese, “Adopting this resolution will enable the Police Department to continue using radar legally for the enforcement of speed limits on one hundred and six (106) street segments within the City.”
“The Survey was conducted by Willdan Engineering. Data from the Survey is used to determine if the City’s existing posted speed limits on arterial and collector streets need to be modified. Posted speed limits are established to protect the public and provide law enforcement with a clearly understood method to identify and apprehend violators of the basic speed law.”
The City reduced the speed limit by five (5) miles per hour in the following areas: 104th Street from Yukon Ave. to Crenshaw Blvd., Arbor Vitae Street from Crenshaw Blvd. to Van Ness Ave., Aviation Blvd. from Manchester Blvd. to Arbor Vitae Street, Inglewood Ave. from Centinela Ave. to Beach Ave., Redondo Blvd. from High Street to West Blvd., and Yukon Ave. from 104th Street to Imperial Hwy.
The study was conducted during the months of October and November 2024.
“Radar speed measurements were conducted at 106 locations during the month of October 2024.. All surveys were conducted in good weather conditions, during off-peak hours on weekdays,” wrote Willdan’s traffic engineer Nicole Spann. “The radar unit was operated from an unmarked vehicle to minimize any influence on driver behavior. Typically, a minimum sample size of 100 vehicles or the total samples during a maximum period of 2 hours were obtained for each segment. Traffic speeds in both directions were recorded for individual segments.”
One of the most volatile street segments that generates a large amount of community discourse is in Council District 1 on 8th Ave. from Crenshaw Blvd. to 76th Street which is the site of multiple traffic accidents including cars crashing into homes and businesses.
Inglewood residents have begged the City for years to install speed bumps along the stretch of 8th Ave. between Crenshaw Blvd and 76th Street due to unsafe driving that nearly left an Inglewood resident dead.
Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts Jr. and District 1 Councilwoman Gloria Gray have told the public, on multiple occasions, that speed bump applications have been denied due to input from the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
“Part of our vetting process [for speed hump applications] is input from the fire department and that is a main artery for fire equipment to be able to rapidly respond to paramedic calls and fire calls,” said Mayor Butts during the Sept. 14, 2021, regular city council meeting.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department responded to a public records request confirming that they have no input on such applications and have not issued any denials for speed hump applications.
“Thank you for your request. Unfortunately, the Risk Management Division of the County of Los Angeles Fire Department does not have responsive records. If Public Works or anyone else has documentation that came from the Fire Department, please provide it to us so that we can follow up with the individual regarding any records. As of now, everyone that I have reached out to did not have any information and stated the Fire Department is not normally involved in this type of request.”
During the September 14, 2021, meeting Melissa Barlow, a resident in the immediate area, appeared to complain about speeding along the corridor that has not been mitigated and resulted in a driver crashing into her home nearly killing her. (watch video here)
During the April 4, 2023, regular city council meeting, another resident, Sikivu Hutchinson, daughter of Earl Ofari Hutchinson, came forward with the same complaints about speeding and how dangerous the traffic is. The mayor rejected her assertions saying they have motor officers assigned to the area, however, one has since retired and the other is rarely if ever seen patrolling the area.
“The corridor you speak of is primarily in the city of Los Angeles and we have added motor officers to the Inglewood side,” said Butts. The portion of the corridor the residents were complaining about is within Inglewood city limits.
Despite the residents’ complaints and the continued vehicle crashes, Willdan Engineers recommended that the speed limit remain at 30 miles per hour.
Both Councilwoman Gray and Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts Jr. own homes in the immediate vicinity of this near deadly corridor.
Residents that are concerned about the City ignoring their concerns related to public safety and traffic issues have an opportunity to change its leadership next June when Mayor Butts, Gloria Gray and Alex Padilla ask for your vote to return them to the Inglewood City Council.
- Resolution to Establish Posted Speed Limits on Various Streets and to Accept an Engineering and Traffic Speed Survey https://www.cityofinglewood.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/19172?fileID=26514 ↩︎
1 Comment
There was a time residents could voice their concerns to the traffic commission. Sadly they like so many of the other commissions rarely if ever meet in spite of the fact that the individual commission members find time to appear wearing their city name badges for photo op meetings.
When the community no longer can voice their concerns, or if they do they are belittled insulted or lied to, it is long past time incumbents discover that citizens can vote for others.