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Residents press council on Mohawk Street cut-through traffic and utility repairs
Summary
A resident presented multi-day traffic counts showing thousands of cars on single city blocks and urged engineering changes and enforcement; council members and staff agreed to review the submitted reports and to coordinate with utilities to improve permanent repairs and patches in older neighborhoods.
A resident who identified himself as Mr. Owens told the Mobile City Council that JMAR speed-and-count devices recorded 6,677 vehicles over roughly five days on one city block and another device recorded 5,670 vehicles in a comparable span, with maximum speeds reported near 41 mph. Owens said those volumes and speeds make the short block feel like a "drag strip" and asked the city to study engineering improvements and enforcement.
Council members thanked Owens for bringing the reports. A council member noted the difficulty of traffic fixes in the city’s grid-pattern neighborhoods and asked traffic engineers to review speed-deterrent options. Staff said enforcement and engineering must be paired to reduce speeds and suggested reviewing the submitted reports to identify potential speed cushions and other deterrents.
Separately, several council members and staff discussed a recurring problem where utility companies cut newly resurfaced streets and return only temporary patches. Council members recounted the city’s practice of placing small markers to identify which utility cut a street and noted past efforts—led by former Councilman Richardson—to hold utilities responsible for permanent mill-and-fill repairs. Staff said a meeting with MOS (Mobile Water/Sewer or similar utility) and the public works administration is scheduled to coordinate a common contractor to evaluate and assign responsibility, with the aim of speeding permanent repairs where utilities and the city share work.
Council members said the administration will keep districts updated on next steps and promised that the engineering and enforcement teams will review the resident’s data.
