Brookes Avenue Speedway

Some residents in the Marston Hills area of Hillcrest are scared to let their children play outside, frightened to walk their dogs, and leery of parking on the street outside of their house. Apparently, road construction on Park Avenue has diverted motorists into the Marston Hills community, and many of the nonresidents passing through consider the quaint neighborhood side streets to be more like straight-aways fit for a NASCAR race.

In recent months, the normally hard to find community of Marston Hills-- located just north of Balboa Park, south of University, and west of Park Avenue-- has seen three collisions and several close calls at the corner of Herbert Street and Brookes Avenue, prompting denizens to call the City and request a stop sign be placed at the intersection.

The City came out, investigated, then concluded that the residents can’t judge speed and don’t know what 35 miles per hour looks like. The residents explained to the city official that the speed limit is 25 in residential areas, not 35. Despite their efforts, the request for a stop sign was denied; the city official said that a few speed bumps might be more appropriate for the area.

The community wasn’t happy. They feel a stop sign isn’t too much to ask, and they weren’t going to let the City slow down their push to get one. The Marston Hill residents went to plan B: bypass the City’s ruling by obtaining a recommendation from the Uptown Planners, which they can then take to the city council.

At the September 2nd meeting, a handful of residents (including a weeping mother, frightened for the safety of her two young boys) spoke before the Uptown Planners, pleading for that recommendation.

Uptown Planner and Marston Hills resident Jay Hyde said, “I went down there today and I saw some cars going at least 40 down Brookes. A stop sign is absolutely needed here. As for speed bumps, seeing how these people drive, if they get airborne, they like it!”

The Uptown Planners voted 13 in favor, 2 in opposition, and 1 abstention. Residents of Marston Hills will proceed full speed to the city council.

To see and hear more from the Uptown Planners, meetings take place at the Joyce Beers Community Center on the first Tuesday of the month.