Need a speed bump? El Paso City Council slashes volume requirement in half

If cars are zooming down your street and you think speed bumps are the solution, El Paso City Council just made the application process more simple.

City Council voted unanimously Monday morning to approve the changes that were proposed by the City’s Street and Maintenance Department.

It makes it easier for residents who want to have speed bumps installed on their street to get the necessary funding.

In order to qualify for the Neighborhood Traffic Management Program, a street had to have an average usage of at least 1,000 vehicles per day. If it was less than a 1,000, the street wouldn’t qualify for city funding.

The change approved by city council Monday lowers that number to 500.

Justin Bass, the lead planner with El Paso’s Street and Maintenance Department, said the change will make it easier for residents to take advantage of the program.

There is also the addition of a crash analysis that will highlight any problems with a city street.

“We we will look at crash data over the past few years to see if there are any trends that we need to address,” Bass said.

The cost to place both sets of speed bumps is $10,000. From September of 2016 to August of 2018, the city has placed 69 sets of speed bumps at a cost of about $690,000.

The City told ABC-7 there are currently 16 streets that didn’t qualify under the old criteria, but that now qualify under the new guidelines.

Residents will be able to have the study redone and if it qualifies under the new rules, the street will be added to the NTMP list.

The City plans to use some of the existing inventory of speed bumps and place them on those streets that now qualify.