Dove Canyon to Remove Some Speed Bumps

Drivers faced with black-and-yellow speed bumps that break up the smooth flow of Dove Canyon’s neighborhood streets have a choice: slow down or continue full speed ahead and risk mangling their vehicle’s suspension.

Most drivers choose to hit the brakes, explaining why speed bumps are one of the most effective ways to slow down traffic in residential neighborhoods, said Battalion Chief Scott Brown of the Orange County Fire Authority.

The problem is that the bumps also slow down ambulances, firetrucks and police cruisers responding to emergencies--delaying their arrival by precious minutes, Brown said.

And many communities are caught in a quandary: Do they choose the safety of slower traffic or the safety of quick responses during emergencies?

Dove Canyon, a private community in the shadow of Saddleback Mountain, had wrestled with this question for the last three years. And the final decision came down to ticks of the clock.

It can take 15 to 18 minutes for emergency vehicles to reach some portions of the community, far longer than the Fire Authority’s targeted response time. Brown said that, according to the standard for rescue operations, the first fire rescue unit should arrive at the scene of a call within five minutes 80% of the time, and an ambulance should arrive at the scene within 10 minutes 90% of the time.

“We can say with certainty that those speed humps cause a delay in response time,” Brown said.

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So last month, the Dove Canyon homeowners board and the city of Rancho Santa Margarita reached an agreement with the Fire Authority to remove all the speed bumps from the community’s main arterial streets.

They followed in the footsteps of their neighbor, the gated community of Coto de Caza, which removed speed bumps from its main thoroughfares last July.

Danny Novak, a member of the Dove Canyon board, said the panel is looking for a contractor and hopes to have the bumps removed from Dove Canyon Drive, Sycamore Canyon Drive, Bell Canyon Drive and Golf Club Drive by April 19.

“Because we have such an issue with the traffic and the speeding involved, we are trying to keep the interior speed bumps, but in a way that the [Fire Authority] would only have to deal with a maximum of two speed bumps to respond to any home inside the community,” Novak said.

To keep speeders from enjoying the bump-free roads, the city of Rancho Santa Margarita is working with the Dove Canyon board to bring more police and traffic enforcement into the community. Dove Canyon is within the city limits of Rancho Santa Margarita.

Brown said the county fire code states that the Fire Authority must be involved in the planning and implementation of speed bumps in every community in its jurisdiction. In the past, however, the agency was often left out of the process because of confusion about just when the Fire Authority should be consulted.

That, it is hoped, will change under the revised fire code recently adopted, because it clearly states that the Fire Authority must be consulted on all matters involving traffic safety and the installation of speed bumps, Brown said.