Mallory DuBois, a military veteran and retired nurse who lives at 30 Belmont Avenue, told the Mount Vernon City Council on Sept. 8 that vehicles and motorcycles routinely speed on her street, creating safety risks for children and residents. "That street has become a racetrack," DuBois said, adding that drivers ignore the 25 mph limit and that commercial vehicles and dump trucks using the street as a shortcut make the problem worse.

DuBois said children walk to and from Dan Emmett School along Belmont Avenue and that neighbors are worried about a crash. "What if you hit a kid?" she asked. She said she had raised the issue with city staff, including a discussion about speed humps that she was told were not possible because of snowplow operations.

Why it matters: DuBois framed the concern as immediate public-safety risk for a residential neighborhood with schoolchildren. She urged the mayor and council to pursue whatever traffic-calming measures are permissible.

Council response and next steps: DuBois said she had spoken with "Mister Severance" (city staff) about the problem; no council motion or formal staff directive was recorded during the meeting. The council acknowledged her comment but did not vote or direct a formal study during the Sept. 8 legislative session.

Context and neighborhood detail: DuBois said the police chief lives across the street and that efforts to complain previously had produced mixed responses, including a newspaper item that said there was no problem. She said many neighbors do not come to council meetings to press the issue. DuBois asked the council to consider measures to slow traffic on Belmont Avenue and said residents want quieter, safer streets.