KANSAS CITY, KS (KCTV) -
There may be times when a person is concerned for their child's safety on their neighborhood streets, but one family bought something on the internet to keep their kids safe.
On a busy block, near 24th Street and Stewart Avenue, several children are always playing. Parents like Cindy Brownell and her neighbors worry about the speeding cars so they purchased a tool that they hoped would make drivers slow down.
"We have a lot of kids that play every day," Brownell said.
"That would hurt my heart if somebody got hurt," neighbor Camille Graves said.
Brownell said she put in several calls to Wyandotte County Unified Government's public works department and asked that crews install a speed bump, but nothing has changed in the six months she's been asking.
"My neighbors filled out a petition to get speed bumps in and maybe make that a one way street. We've contacted street calming, community policing (both divisions in public works)," she said.
"They're just sitting on their thumbs. They aren't doing anything," neighbor Alfred Scott said.
Brownell and her husband purchased a removable rubber speed hump over the internet and, when their children played outside, they lay it down and remove it when they finished. Brownell said it cost her about $400.
"Yeah it was costly, but it was worth it for the safety of the kids," she said.
The speed bump disappeared one night and the family believes someone stole it. While it may have temporarily forced drivers to slow down, the city said residents are not allowed to lay speed bumps in the roadway.
"It is totally illegal to out an obstruction in the roadway. We have engineers who must go out and do a street analysis first. You can't just put a speed bump down," Edwin Birch with the Wyandotte County Unified Government said.
"It just seems like we get the runaround. And we haven't gotten anything. I'd rather prevent something from happening rather than wait until it happens," Brownell said.
Wyandotte County Unified Government Public Works said the residents did follow procedure by getting the petition, but the process could take several months. They are now looking at Stewart Street and as to whether the city will place a permanent speed bump there.
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