Councilwoman Peggy Neely's
Tatum Sun Times Column

February 2006

North Tatum Fighting Back to Slow Down Speeders

Motorists who speed along Tatum Boulevard between Jomax and Cave Creek roads and drive aggressively on nearby neighborhood streets are in for a big surprise.

They're the target of the District 2 North Tatum Fight Back, which is putting the finishing touches on plans to take on aggressive drivers with the $54,000 it received as part of the city's Fight Back program.

Tops on its agenda are deploying more police officers in the area to ticket speeders, setting up electronic speed message signs that let motorists know just how fast they are traveling and installing speed humps that encourage drivers to ease up on the accelerator.  
        "Our goal is to reduce speeding on Tatum and on our neighborhood streets," stresses Fight Back President David Mottram, a Tatum Vista subdivision resident who says he has seen a tremendous increase in traffic and dangerous driving during the seven years he has lived in the area. "It's become very dangerous."
        Longtime residents of other nearby neighborhoods such as Tatum Highlands and Tatum Ranch describe the busy streets as a "time bomb" just waiting for a serious accident.

The Tatum Fight Back is a bit different than most other Fight Back programs around the

city because it covers a much larger area than most and it addresses traffic concerns rather than the more common targets of crime and blight.
        And that's a good thing because it underscores what Fight Back programs are all about – allowing residents to decide their most urgent and important needs and then taking them on with help from the city.  

“The major complaints that residents had in the area was traffic, both speeding and aggressive driving, and that’s why they wanted a Fight Back in their area,” said Jerry Hood, a neighborhood specialist with the Neighborhood Services Department.

The group plans to use some of its money to pay overtime for extra police officers to work traffic enforcement in the area in the evenings and on weekends. In addition, the Police Department plans to put more traffic officers in the area during the daytime hours, including units that will be using radar.

“There will be a lot of citations out there because it appears that the best way to educate speeders is to give them tickets,” says Hood.

The deployment of more police in the area is seen as a stopgap until a new police precinct can be built in the area. The city has purchased land at Cave Creek Road and Smokehouse Trail and hopes to build a police station there in a few years.

Past Fight Back programs have had great success reducing crime by organizing Block Watch groups; helping children by developing after-school programs and buying playground equipment; and sprucing up neighborhoods by planting trees, installing street lights and helping residents clean their yards and paint their houses.
       We can all be very proud of the many accomplishments that past Fight Back groups in District 2 and throughout the city have achieved. And I am confident that the Tatum Fight Back will be every bit as successful.

Community meetings on the Tatum Fight Back will be held monthly. For more information, feel free to call Jerry Hood from the city’s Neighborhood Services Department at 602-262-1682.

So remember, put on the brakes and watch your speedometer if you’re driving on North Tatum Boulevard or anywhere in and around our neighborhoods.

Phoenix City Councilwoman Peggy Neely represents District 2, which includes most of northeast Phoenix. She can be reached at 602-262-7445 or through e-mail at council.district.2@phoenix.gov.