Residents living on Akron Street have long been upset and frustrated by the many cars speeding along that curvy, hilly connector road between Bienveneda Avenue and Lachman Lane. In the past year, for example, more than 10 parked cars have been scraped or had their side mirrors damaged, and numerous pets have been injured or killed by careless drivers, according to a neighborhood survey. Akron’s posted speed limit of 25 mph is hardly a deterrent, neighbors told the Palisadian-Post. Hoping to slow traffic, residents of the 69 homes that line the street have tried for years to have speed humps installed, but had always been rejected’until this spring, when they achieved a partial victory. A petition for a speed hump on upper Akron between Chattanooga and Lachman Lane was approved on May 5. Residents received a letter stating, ‘As you know, this location was earlier investigated for excessive speeding, and speed humps were recommended as the appropriate traffic measure.’ L.A. Principal Transportation Engineer Glen Ogura has confirmed that a speed hump will be installed on upper Akron by the end of July. Dan Urbach, who lives on lower Akron between Chattanooga and Bienveneda, has applied for a speed hump on that portion of the road. ‘We have his application and we are in the process of doing a study,’ Ogura said. Once the study is completed and if it confirms that the requirements for a speed hump are met, the next step is to have at least 75 percent of the residents sign the petition. The upper-Akron petition garnered 83 percent support. The process to acquired the first speed hump started in February 2007 when Akron residents Andrea and Roger Barton wrote to Department of Transportation Engineer Mohammad H. Blorfroshan, ‘This will be our neighborhood’s third attempt for requesting speed humps on this street,’ the Bartons wrote. ‘Last year the city recognized the speed problem and installed a stop sign on the corner of Akron and Chattanooga, but unfortunately, drivers continue to drive at unsafe speeds past our homes before arriving at the stop sign, which is rarely acknowledged. ‘The speeding problem is very serious. Two dogs were hit and killed yesterday, I was very close to being hit by an SUV while crossing the street with my two-year-old son.’ The couple concluded the letter, ‘Please help us keep our children, neighbors and pets from becoming fatalities. It’s only a matter of time and we would hate to have to reference all three requests in court if anything were to happen.’ Other neighbors recounted their traffic stories: ‘A blue Volkswagen was speeding up Akron and hit a six-month old retriever. They didn’t stop,’ said Katherine Orlinsky. ‘Our car has been in the body shop twice. Everybody has a story.’ ‘People honk at us when we’re trying to back out of our driveways,’ said Diane Braverman, and Gloria Kim commented: ‘My biggest fear is someone is going to take the curve [between Chattanooga and Bienveneda] too fast and hit my boys’ bedroom, which is next to the front yard.’ Hal Schwabe, a retired LAPD officer, told of a drunken driver who recently was speeding on Akron, hit and totaled a Prius, then drove off. Schwabe got into his car and followed him to Lachman Lane, where the driver had hit a truck and wall. The male got out of his car, accompanied by his young son, and said, ‘It’s not my car, I wasn’t driving,’ and started to leave. Schwabe told him he had to stay and the man punched him in the face. The man was subsequently subdued and arrested.
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