PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — The city of Port St. Lucie is looking for new ways to put the brakes on speeders.
Part of Frank Knott’s job is to make sure drivers are getting places safely.
Knott is with Port St. Lucie Public Works, and his department studies show a road like Southbend Boulevard is actually like two roads.
Most drivers on the northern end, where the homes are closer to the road, drive slightly above the 40 mph speed limit, but the situation changes as they head south toward Becker Road and the Turnpike.
“That southern piece where you’re driving past Tesoro, we have a lot of road-rage issues and the speeds have increased quite a bit," said Knott.
Some drivers average 52 mph despite no increase in the speed limit.
Even the city admits speed signs on Southbend that post driver speeds haven’t done much to reduce speeding on this stretch of the road.
So the city is looking at various possibilities when it comes to traffic calming.
One option would be to add landscaping.
“Same concept like we talked about with Clematis Street (in West Palm Beach), bringing everything closer to the road so you’re in a tunnel type situation so you want to try and slow down," said Knott.
Another plan is to add colorful paint to some intersections.
“We don’t want to distract drivers but it makes you feel like you’re going somewhere where you should pay more attention," said Knott.
The next traffic calming meeting is Wednesday at 6 p.m. focusing on Sandpiper Bay.
Both meetings are at the city’s building department.
