home

by Diana Day

New speed limit sign on northbound Hermosa, near Memorial Park

As part of its effort to address concerns about speeding near Memorial Park, the Sierra Madre Police Department installed two new 25 m.p.h. speed limit signs on northbound and southbound Hermosa, according to Police Chief Marilyn Diaz.

The speed signs went up “almost immediately” after the May 9 City Council meeting, Diaz said, when the Council recommended that the Sierra Madre Police Department step up traffic enforcement, assessment and education in the vicinity of Memorial Park.

“We have stepped up patrols, and we have written at least a half dozen tickets for speeding,” Diaz said.

The Council’s action was in response to a number of residents’ complaints about a long history of speeding on streets adjacent to Memorial Park. The recommendation renewed an effort from 2004 to address residents’ concerns and came in the wake of a recent accident where a young child leaving Memorial Park with his parents was struck by a car. [See related inSierraMadre.com articles Help make Sierra Madre safe for our children and Traffic calming discussed at Council meeting.]

Resident Michael Amezcua, the father of the child injured in the accident, said that in the first week following the May 9 meeting, he didn’t see any increased police activity. About 10 days following the meeting, though, he did see a person in plain clothes using what appeared to be a speed tracking device.

Diaz confirmed that “there is a volunteer tracking with a radar gun” and that the volunteer has tracked speeds up to 45 m.p.h.

Hermosa resident Janette Ledea said Sunday that she had seen an increased police presence on the street.

“We’ll continue to monitor the location, so we’ll get a representative sampling of speeds for the morning and the evening,” Diaz said.

Diaz also said that the police department plans to launch a safety program for children and their parents to take place this summer. The program will encompass many aspects of safety, including traffic, water, fire, wildlife and more. [inSierraMadre.com will provide more detail about the program when the details have been finalized.]

“This is an example of a low-cost high-impact service that the police department and city staff can offer to the city, and it is one of several that we plan to offer in the future,” Diaz said.