Del Rey Oaks tackles traffic issue without formal study.

A traffic-related issue involving the only city street connecting Seaside to Del Rey Oaks has become a political hot potato.

Residents on Carlton Drive claim speeding vehicles have become a public safety issue in their neighborhood.

While the police department begs to differ, one of those residents is DRO Mayor Jerry Edelen and he sides with residents’ concerns.

“It’s the craziest issue I’ve encountered in my 20 years on City Council,” Edelen says. “But it’s not about what I want. It’s about what the citizens want.”

To abate the problem, Edelen has called for a special council meeting March 10, when he hopes to pass a motion for speed cushions (aka speed humps, or giant speed bumps). Or, as a last resort, a barricade on Highland Street, cutting off access to and from Seaside.

Edelen hopes to get the speed cushions without a formal traffic engineering analysis, which would determine if concerns are based on perception or evidence.

“Two members of the council want to go through the long study, but I think it’s unneeded,” Edelen says.

Del Rey Oaks Police Chief Ron Langford points out that breaks protocol. “We can’t just put something up without data to support it,” he says. “My job is to provide public safety for anyone who visits the street.”

Paul Keene, a DRO resident of Portola Drive, near Carlton Drive, has already threatened to sue the city if it moves forward with installing traffic-calming devices. Keene’s attorney, Christine Kemp, sent a letter to council claiming the decision would be “not legally supportable” and a “liability to the city.”

This issue also concerns the Seaside Fire Department, whose staff use Carlton between Plumas Drive and Canyon Del Rey as a main response route.

Seaside Fire Battalion Chief Troy Leist wrote in an email to Langford that speed cushions would cause a delay in response times, and closing off the street to Seaside would affect them even more.

“Hopefully, the council will see the potential danger/liability that may occur with a road closure,” Leist wrote.