By DAVID CRUZ

Though the city Department of Transportation says its committed to installing a speed hump at a Norwood street where a driver lost control and slammed into three parked cars before turning over recently, just when it will be installed is another matter.

The accident happened on Hull Avenue near 207th Street, part of a designated Neighborhood Slow Zone aimed at reducing accidents. And despite its designation, residents have waited over a year for the installation of a speed hump where the accident occurred. It would rest at the foot of PS 56, an elementary school where crews with the School Construction Authority (SCA) are currently building a $27 million new wing at the school’s Hull Avenue side.

A temporary barrier dividing pedestrians and drivers can be seen at the site, along with markings for a speed hump and a sign that reads “Speed Bump – 15 mph,” yet no speed hump is present on the Hull Avenue side.

A DOT spokesperson said the agency has put the speed hump project on hold since “construction is in progress,” resulting in delays. But the spokesperson said the agency is considering an idea to work around the construction by working with the SCA to figure out a date to install the hump. If no resolution is found, residents may have to wait until after the school project’s completion date of fall 2016.

Bumpy Road
The stall has been viewed as a bump in the road for transportation advocates who have long harangued city officials to consider expediting a hump to keep heavy-footed drivers at bay.

“It’s not like they wouldn’t fix a manhole or fix an electrical fire, and they wouldn’t fix a pothole because there’s construction going on,” said Elisabeth von Uhl, a mother of a 3-year-old who heard the crash. “To me it seems like they could’ve coordinated a day where DOT could’ve brought out their equipment to put in the speed hump.”

The majority of Norwood is deemed a Neighborhood Slow Zone by the DOT. The designation was made last year coinciding with Mayor Bill de Blasio’s launch of Vision Zero, which aims to eliminate fatal car crashes by 2020. Von Uhl, along with elected officials and Community Board 7 claimed victory in the program, mandating drivers cruise at a maximum of 20 miles per hour. Some criteria Norwood cleared for a Slow Zone included strong community input, two schools, and five pre-k, head start and day care centers. They also took into account the number of injuries per year, at 11.8, and four severe injuries/fatalities per road mile.

Hull Avenue is one of those slow zone roadways, though drivers must go 15 miles per hour because of its proximity to PS 56. The DOT has installed separate speed humps and signs along Hull Avenue, near East Gun Hill Road and East 209th Street and between East 205th and East 207th streets.

The Accident
The accident happened on Hull Avenue just before East 207th Street on a rainy May 31. Video surveillance from a home on Hull Avenue shows a vehicle hurtling down that street. Witnesses said the vehicle sideswiped a car before slamming into a parked BMW, which hit another car before overturning. The BMW belonged to Solaris Columbus, who ironically was the one who pulled the driver from the passenger side of the tipped vehicle, along with von Uhl’s husband, Jay Shuffield, after popping the deployed airbag. The driver was not charged by police, angering voh Uhl, who thought they should have been hit with a speed charge.

“A car doesn’t flip over going 20 miles per hour,” said von Uhl, who’s pressed elected officials in getting a speed hump installed. “You’re not going to ricochet off three cars.”

A Hectic Hull Avenue
Columbus, a Bronx native now living in Westchester County, was visiting her family when the crash happened. Previously, she lived on Hull Avenue with her family, who routinely spot cars jetting down the neighborhood that’s home to small children. “These cops that want to give speeding tickets, they might as well just park up the block at the corner (Hull Avenue/207th Street) and they’ll get a good speeding ticket because they’ll do anything to catch that light at the corner,” said Columbus, a New York City lifeguard and mother of a 4-year-old. “Speeding is a major issue on that block.”

Hull Avenue has long been considered a kind of straight shot for drivers who can pick up speed towards several traffic lights. Traffic accidents are minimal, though Columbus warns that on any given day there, “it takes one car to really hurt someone.”

Days after the accident, von Uhl sat outside her Hull Avenue home seeing motorists drive by. She counted 11 cars “gunning the engine” of their cars, racing for the light, an indication the speed issue isn’t going away. She hopes the city reacts sooner instead of waiting for school construction to end. “I don’t think that’s how a big, urban city can work though,” said von Uhl, “especially one that’s just adopted Vision Zero.”