Not just another bump in the road

Alex Coolman

LIDO ISLE -- It’s not the small cars that bother Brian Singer minds. He

can barely hear them as they pass over the speed bump in front of his

home.

But when the construction trucks come, with their rumbling loads of

stones and their clattering tools, the noise as they hit the bump is

enough to bring a scowl to Singer’s otherwise mild face.

“It’s more than disturbing, it’s alarming,” Singer says of the racket.

“It sounds like somebody’s hitting the house.”The yellow plastic speed

bump, located at the intersection of Via Lido Nord and Via Genoa, was

installed about a month ago.

It was put there, said Hugh Helm, president of the Lido Isle Community

Assn., because of “our concern over safety in terms of people traveling

too fast on that street and people not coming to a complete stop.”

The intersection is next to Genoa Park, where a cheerful blue

merry-go-round, swings and jungle gym attract many a scampering child.

Helm said concerns about the vulnerability of those kids and other

pedestrians to speeding drivers prompted the association to take action.

“It has caused people to slow down and stop,” he noted.

But Singer, who says he and other residents around the intersection were

not consulted before the bump was installed, takes a very dim view of the

obstacle’s utility.

Not only is it noisy, he says, it’s dangerous. Cars frequently swerve

around the bump in a way that causes them to pass just inches away from

the entrance to Singer’s garage.

Singer says his wife has nearly been hit by swerving motorists on several

occasions. His attorney has written a letter to Newport Beach city

officials requesting “expedient action to resolve this matter.”

The traffic obstacle was installed on a trial basis, said both

association and city officials.

“I’m making a decision on whether it will stay or go by the end of the

week,” said City Manager Homer Bludau.

But Singer says he’s already seen -- and heard -- enough.

“They put it in as a test,” he said. “As far as I’m concerned, this test

is over.”