BELLEVUE, Neb (KMTV) — Steve Spurgeon has lived in the Nob Hill Neighborhood of Bellevue for almost his entire life.
He said when his family first moved in nearly 45 years ago that they were warned about the dangerous drivers that frequently sped through the neighborhood.
“When we first moved here we heard about a kid that just the year before had been hit by a car just down the street there and was killed. So we were warned to be careful in the streets in this neighborhood,” said Spurgeon.
Spurgeon says that over the years he has seen the neighborhood change and grow but in that time the dangerous driving has only gotten worse.
“Over the years we have had some near misses. I can’t tell you every single kid that has gotten hit but in the last two and a half years we have had a kid killed up the street. We have also had two kids hit in the last what, 70 days? One right here in front of my house,” said Spurgeon.
Concerned for the kids in the neighborhood Spurgeon brought his issues up to others on social media.
The posts received numerous responses from other concerned neighbors and even garnered the attention of the Bellevue City Council and Bellevue’s Chief of Police.
“It was a little disturbing when I saw the complaints come through on social media that there was a call to action to the council,” said Bellevue Police Chief Ken Clary.
At Tuesday’s city council meeting Clary discussed his investigation into the neighborhood's dangerous drivers.
Clary says his department sent officers the monitor the neighborhood and installed a speed sign to track drivers speeding.
Clary said his investigation has so far not found any evidence of excessive speeders, citing that 94% of the vehicles that traveled through the neighborhood were moving at or below the speed limit.
But Spurgeon says the officers weren’t in the neighborhood when the dangerous driving is most common.
“They come out here when the kids are in school, the times they are doing these things have no relevance to when the kids are here,” said Spurgeon.
Spurgeon offered several ideas at the city council meeting to slow down dangerous drivers.
He said he would like to see speed bumps, or more stop signs put in place but officials said they were concerned those devices wouldn’t work long-term and could slow down emergency services responding to calls in the neighborhood.
“We can’t let perfect get in the way of what is good for the neighborhood because nothing is going to be perfect,” said Spurgeon.
Spurgeon said he was encouraged by the city council’s interest in the issue, even if they don’t agree on what solutions could solve the problem.
He says now all he can do is wait, and hope no more kids are harmed before the city finds a solution to the dangerous drivers.
“I am sure it will be effective as it can be. They are doing their due diligence and doing some studies. They are going to come up with a solution that they think will be effective so all we can do at that point is wait and see,” said Spurgeon.
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