SHERWOOD, Ark. — It's been about eight months since speed cushions were added along Silver Creek Drive in Sherwood, and now people who live on Indian Bay Drive are happy to have some on their street as well.
"We have already noticed that it's slowing people down," said Kathy Brumfield.
Kathy and her husband, Keith Richmond, have lived on Indian Bay Drive for several years and said speeding has been an ongoing problem.
"We noticed that people were going excessively at 25 miles per hour," Brumfield said. "I'm not just talking about 30 or something, but 45, 50."
The speed cushions along the road were installed a few weeks ago, but it was a process to get them.
"When a resident calls and complains about speeding, we have a camera that can pick up the data [and] we can put it out there," Sherwood Mayor Mary Jo Heye-Townsell said. "We put the camera out for a couple of days."
Heye-Townsell said those cameras track the number of potential speeding violations.
"It's got to reach that matrix of over 17% of violations," Heye-Townsell said.
From there, 60% of people who live within 250 feet on either side of the speed cushion must want it there. Brumfield and Richmond set out to get those signatures in their neighborhood.
"We met so many of our neighbors," Brumfield said. "There was a full-throated endorsement for the
cushions."
Brumfield and Richmond said they're thankful this process connected the community and will keep the area safe.
In the meantime, Heye-Townsell said she's glad this process is working and hopes to have more cushions installed soon.
"It is slowing down that traffic," Heye-Townsell said. "It is making those neighborhoods safer."
Any Sherwood resident interested in getting a speed cushion for their neighborhood can contact the mayor's office at (501) 835-6620.