Residents press county for speed humps after speed study; commissioners approve county response and public works poll

Residents of the BlackRock and Granite Park neighborhoods urged the Yellowstone County Board of County Commissioners on May 14 to install physical traffic-calming measures after reporting repeated speeding, near-misses and unsafe behavior around neighborhood walking paths and school bus stops.

In public comment, Derek Burby said a petition signed by 94 residents requests measures to slow traffic and protect pedestrians, noting a 2023 speed study that recorded about 3,300 vehicles in the area and reported roughly 60% of vehicles exceeding the posted 25 mph limit. Multiple speakers described motorcycles doing wheelies, drivers traveling well above posted limits and children using walking paths that empty into streets. Resident Mike Weinheimer questioned the timing of the Sanderson Stewart engineering study (completed in June) and said nonphysical measures alone would likely not curb speeding. Developer Todd Brown said the neighborhood’s walking-path design creates unique crossing points that heighten risk and argued for speed humps placed where paths meet the street.

Commission discussion distinguished between options: nonphysical measures (signage, crosswalk markings, dynamic speed feedback signs), increased enforcement by the sheriff’s office, and engineered physical devices such as speed humps, speed tables or chicanes. County officials said an engineering study is required before most traffic changes; petitioners said their petition did not request RSID (road special improvement district) funding and offered to self-fund or explore alternatives if necessary. Several residents said repeated calls to dispatch produced little enforcement; Andy Schreiner described being told some nonemergency speeding calls are not responded to and said highway patrol did not appear after he reported incidents.

The board voted to approve item 7C — recorded as the county’s response to the speed-hump petition — and directed Public Works to consider a neighborhood poll so affected residents can express preferences and understand cost implications. The chair also said he would ask the sheriff to increase enforcement in targeted time windows and that the county attorney had previously expressed no formal objection to installing speed humps, though several commissioners raised concerns about liability and traffic displacement onto adjacent streets. The board did not authorize immediate installation of speed humps; instead it approved the county response, requested further information, and signaled follow-up actions including a public-works poll and enforcement checks.

Next steps: Public Works will be asked to run a poll of neighbors and provide cost estimates; the sheriff’s office will be asked to step up enforcement during identified high-risk times (about 7:30–8:30 a.m. and 3–6 p.m.), and county staff will report back to the board. The board approved the county response (item 7C) but did not commit to a specific traffic-calming installation at the meeting.