Community Development District 6 supervisors on Friday morning voted to remove some controversial speed bumps on the multi-modal paths in The Villages.
The speed bumps to be removed are located near the entrance to the Village of Bridgeport at Lake Sumter and near a starter shack located near a tunnel at Mallory Hill Country Club.
Before voting on the matter, supervisors received a recommendation from the District’s engineer, Richard Busche of Kimley-Horn & Associates Inc.
“Speed bumps are very, very effective at what they are designed to do. They are not designed to slow you down. They are designed to stop you. They are 100 percent effective,” Busche said.
He said all users of the multi-modal path, including walkers, joggers and bicyclists, must be considered.
“Those people have just as much right to be on those trails as everybody else,” Busche said.
Speed bumps are a trip hazard for walkers and joggers. They are also problematic for bicyclists, he said.
“There is no safe speed bump for a bicycle or pedestrian,” Busche said.
He recommended that the speed bumps be removed.
Some supervisors expressed reservations.
“Those speed bumps have been in place quite a while. My concern goes to safety. I think if you take them out, you are going to have some problems,” Supervisor John Calandro said of the speed bumps at the entrance to the Village of Bridgeport at Lake Sumter. “I am reluctant to remove them.”
CDD 6 Chair Sally Moss said she was on the board back in 2007 when the speed bumps were approved at Bridgeport at Lake Sumter.
“It was controversial then,” she said.
The board learned from Sam Wartinbee of District Property Management that there are plans to relocate the exit gate operator at that location by the end of next week. You can read more about the history of that gate HERE
With that in consideration, the board voted unanimously to remove those speed bumps.
The board split 3-2 in favor of the removal of the speed bump located near the starter shack at the tunnel near Mallory Hill Country Club. Supervisors Calandro and Linda Grzesik voted against the measure.
The board members in support of the removal of that speed bump cautioned that there should be coordination with the golf division on properly marking the area so that carts coming from the golf course know they should yield to traffic on the multi-modal path.