‘We’re fed up’: Omaha residents frustrated with speeding in Dundee

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - Some people living in a Dundee neighborhood want the city to take another look at speeding as it has become a safety concern.

Many describe crossing the intersections of 51st Street, 52nd Street, and Underwood as “dangerous and scary.”

In August, neighbors like Stacy Kelly petitioned the city for speed bumps after several observations of speeding.

“We’re fed up,” Kelly said. “We see it and don’t know what to do.”

But, the city said Underwood doesn’t qualify for any traffic calming methods since it carries a higher amount of traffic than typical neighborhood roads. It serves as a route from Dodge Road to Saddle Creek Road.

Underwood is classified as “Minor Arterial”. This is similar to Farnam, which also runs through Dundee.

“I emailed them the information and what we see every day,” Kelly said. “They stated they would put a speed sign up.”

What the city will do is put these signs in areas that don’t meet the criteria for traffic calming devices. Their purpose is to temporarily influence speeders to slow down.

However, for Stacy Kelly and other neighbors, it’s not enough.

“I have never ever seen anyone pulled over in our corner where people are running through that stop light,” Kelly said.

Kelly lives right by the corner of 52nd and Underwood.

The city studied the number of crashes here. For the period January through April, there was one in 2023, eight in 2022, and one in 2021.

Neighbors here have been in touch with the city about the issues, but they feel like the city isn’t being completely transparent.

“They’ve also discussed lowering the speed limit to 25 because it’s 30 through here,” Kelly said. “People aren’t obeying 30, so I don’t know what 25 is going to do without any enforcement.”

Omaha Public Works told 6 News once the temporary signs are removed, it will then turn to Omaha Police and encourage enforcement of posted speed limits.

Also, in a few months, the city is planning to install those temporary speed readers on Underwood farther East near Happy Hollow.

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