CLEVELAND — Veronica Robinson said she's constantly living on edge because of chronic speeding and reckless driving through her Cleveland Central Avenue neighborhood.
Robinson said she and her neighbors finally reached wits' end after a car crashed through a fence and slammed into her neighbor's home on March 9.
Robinson said something must be done to corral speeders on Central Avenue, which is home to several churches, the public library and Marion Sterling Elementary School. Robinson said drivers are consistently well over the posted 35 mph speed limit.
"It's an everyday occurrence, where the vehicles are just flying through here," Robinson said. “They're doing 50, 60, 70, sometimes 80 mph, there are times they're even drag racing...When I heard the accident, it sounded like explosion. There's lots of children, elderly people, we even have people that are handicapped. We have schools here; we have children that are coming to and from.”
News 5 contacted Ward 5 Cleveland Councilman Richard Starr about the issue and he responded immediately.
Starr said he'll be contacting Cleveland's Traffic Commissioner in the coming days, hoping a traffic study can be conducted to look into reducing the limit to 25 mph in all sections of Central Avenue.
He believes speed limits in inner-city Cleveland neighborhoods should be reevaluated citywide.
"I will be talking to Commander Dorothy Todd at third district and give her information regarding this to see how many tickets have been issued here and to send an extra car to police the area,” Starr said. “It’s a disturbing issue, it’s a disturbing problem, it’s not fair. It shouldn’t be this way, it’s definitely not safe...We can keep building-up data to prove that it’s unsafe for this street to be 35 mph. Cars are coming down too fast, and it’s nothing but a residential neighborhood. I don’t know why we would have 35 mph right now in this neighborhood.”
Meanwhile, Robinson is hoping the City of Cleveland will take the safety risk seriously, or she and her family may have to make some tough decisions.
“It's gotten to the point for me and my husband, I'm being honest with you, we’re in the process of actually making plans to relocate from here," Robinson said.
