Kennewick adopts new speed hump rules. Half in this neighborhood had to be ripped out

After hard-to-find guidelines led to an incorrectly issued permit and neighbors clashing about new speed humps, the Kennewick council has approved new codes.

And the speed humps installed in this Kennewick neighborhood can stay — the ones that are left that is.

The Kennewick council voted unanimously this week to let the six remaining speed humps on the north stretch of Canyon Lakes Drive remain in place.

Kennewick says about 5,000 vehicles each day drive through the neighborhood — and most are speeding.

Radars on speed limit signs in the neighborhood documents some drivers reaching more than 70 mph.

The six speed humps from the southern stretch of the road were removed for now. With conditions already too cold to reinstall them after they couldn’t be adjusted to meet height and curve standards, the neighborhood will likely need to reassess if they want to put new ones in next year.

If they do, they will have a new code with clear guidelines to follow. The Canyon Lakes Property Owners Association went through what they thought was the correct process and were issued a one time permit because city staff didn’t realize there was guidance in the rarely used administrative code.

It cost about $75,000 out of the owner association’s own funds.

After the humps were already installed, city staff realized they had a code regulating traffic “calming devices.” They worked with the association and the contractor to try and grind down and smooth out the southern group of humps, but were unable to.

That led to them being ripped out and raised questions over whether the rest could stay. Because they were removed in early November, it’s too late in the year to try and install new ones.

The new traffic calming policy is largely similar to what staff found in the administrative code, with a few changes. A section requiring a “straight quarter-mile stretch” of road was nixed because it could be difficult to interpret and another section was adjusted to allow anyone directly impacted to respond.

To be considered directly impacted, the speed hump would have to be on a path that is a person’s “sole access” to their home.

The council also adjusted the code to allow for approval to go through city staff rather than needing council approval for every request.

Cutting through the neighborhood

Public Works Director Cary Roe told the council that speeding has been an issue on Canyon Lakes Drive for at least 10 years, and the speed limit signs with radar provided hard data showing it. Roe said that people who don’t live in the neighborhood are using Canyon Lakes to cut through from areas near Southridge to Ely Street on the other side

“I’m confident based on the data collected that there is a speeding problem and a cut through problem,” Roe said. “The feedback that I’ve received … is that the speed humps are effective. They’re working.”

While the Canyon Lakes POA has said that the majority of their residents supported finding a solution to the speeding issues, some homeowners feel like their voices aren’t being heard.

Only one resident spoke at the meeting, and they thanked the council for codifying the rules and setting about a clear pathway for these decisions in the future.

One homeowner told the Herald in an email that the association overstepped its authority by spending association money on improvements to city property.

Another homeowner, Carver Lenz, told the Herald that the decision was largely driven by retirees and owners of a small number of homes along the area the humps were installed, and doesn’t take into account how that impacts working homeowners in the community on their daily commutes.

He was happy with the compromise to leave the southern ones out for now. The northern portion of the road has homes with driveways opening directly onto Canyon Lakes Drive, but the southern portion doesn’t. The south end is marked by homes opening onto cul-de-sacs and looping smaller streets.

“That’s a little bit of an OK compromise in a certain since because that (north) side actually has houses where there are speed bumps,” Lenz said.

Lenz said that while some of his neighbors could take other roads to avoid the speed humps, he didn’t have a choice. He was frustrated because despite the 15 mph posted limit, the southern humps required drivers to slow all the way down and were steep enough to damage vehicles.

Lenz might not have been included under the previous outreach which was limited to those with homes directly opening onto the road, but now he will be because he can’t leave the neighborhood without going along the stretch where the removed humps were.

“I just don’t think that all members of the neighborhood have the same amount of representation,” he said.

Lenz said the community could have used their association money for something like a community pool or other initiatives that would positively impact their home value. He hopes that in the future the association works to better include all community members.