CLEVELAND — The City of Cleveland said it will install 200 speed tables this year. That means a total of 400 speed tables will be in use across the city.
The City of Cleveland began installing speed tables back in 2022.
Just 14 speed tables were installed, and the city has increased the number of installations each year.
News 5 followed along this week as crews installed three speed tables along Cook Avenue. As crews completed the work, residents of Cook Avenue peered out of their homes to see the work, which brought a sense of relief to resident Ria Terra Nova-Webb.
"I'm excited," she said. "I'm thrilled. I was walking the other day, and I saw the sign go up, and I said, 'Yay! It's finally going to happen.'"
Terra Nova-Webb said she's been petitioning for speed tables along her street for the last six years. She said she reached out to her city councilperson after a deadly crash that happened right in her front yard.
In May 2020, she said a car was speeding down the street and went airborne. The car hit a tree in her yard and landed right on her front porch.
"We were sitting in the living room, and we heard the crash," Terra Nova-Webb said. "I come out on my porch, and there's a car on my porch steps and smoke coming out of the car."
Terra Nova-Webb said the crash was fatal. She believes the three new speed tables should slow drivers down.
Her experience is exactly the kind of concern that drives residents to request speed tables.
The city relies on receiving reports of speeding on neighborhood streets submitted online and to 311.
From there, crews conduct speed studies of the streets, analyzing traffic volumes and the top speeds people were traveling at. Streets with the worst speeds go to the top of the list.
For example, the city said the top speed on Cook Avenue was 32 miles per hour, which is 7 miles per hour over the speed limit.
Robert Mavec, Cleveland's Commissioner of Traffic Engineering, said studies conducted by the city show the speed tables are slowing down drivers.
"When we go and do an after-analysis exam," he said, "we are showing speeds reduced anywhere between nine miles per hour and ten miles per hour."
City crews currently build the speed tables directly on the road. Crews place 12 inches of asphalt on the road and add a three-inch rise in the middle of the table.
Crews return later to spray paint arrows and install speed table warning signs. Mavec also said the department conducts a post-installation analysis to assess results.
Mavec said the installation of speed tables is the number one request his department receives. The speed table study and installation process takes up a lot of time for Mavec and his department.
He said the department averages about 10 studies per week.
Mavec also said the city is looking for a contractor to help with the process this summer.
To request a speed table in your neighborhood, click here.
