Crestwood’s Ridgewood subdivision is unique in comparison to its neighboring communities.
Each home throughout the neighborhood shares the same mid-century modern architecture: large windows, exposed chimneys and gradual roof pitches. Possibly more remarkable than the preserved 1950s architecture is the closeness of those who reside in the roughly 258 homes making up the community, especially following a recent incident involving a longtime neighbor’s dog and the rally to implement adequate traffic-calming measures.
While the subdivision has long been attempting to reduce the speeding and stop sign-running seen daily by residents, the effort became personal after the morning of Sept. 26.
It was a typical morning for Ronnie Neff and his puppy, Gracie. The duo was outside, and while Neff went to get his lawnmower from the garage, Gracie suddenly ran into the street — the same time a car passed by, rolling the stop sign next to Neff’s yard in the process.
“The tire hit her head, ran over her head, and flipped her over. That was it,” Neff said. “They kept going. Like the officer said, it could have been that they didn’t even know it, but according to the video, you could hear the sound of the car accelerating. Whether it was accelerating to get away, or to get up the hill…”
Gracie weighed just 8 pounds “with a lot of fluff,” according to a neighbor.
This loss was particularly difficult for Neff, who has experienced more than a fair share of bereavement recently. He lost his daughter three years ago, his childhood friend in November, and two family dogs. Then Neff’s wife, Debra, passed in March.
“It was pretty quick when we found out she had cancer. Within months, she passed, and I sat here alone, just bored, thoughts and tears. So, I got Gracie,” Neff said.
Though he had Gracie to comfort him, Neff underwent even more loss following his wife’s passing. His brother-in-law passed away three months after Debra, and two months ago, so did his grandson. Neff shared that this was around the time all of the neighbors started communicating.
“Everyone’s active in the neighborhood,” resident Brittany Kearns said. “We’ve had house fires where people have grassroots efforts to help people. We’ve had other elderly neighbors who had to go on assisted living — we helped them with getting to where they need to be. I have friends who say, ‘I have never seen a neighborhood like yours.’”
Traffic calming timeline
As aforementioned, the desire for traffic calming measures is not new for Ridgewood residents. Some have called the streets “a racetrack.” Though the speed limit is 20 miles per hour, cars are routinely caught accelerating at much higher speeds — even up to 70 miles per hour.
“It’s a cut-through for people. There are blind spots. There’s only one side for the sidewalk, so that’s super dangerous, especially at night. There are no lights,” Kearns said. “It’s FedEx. It’s school buses. I mean, they are flying … I went to a traffic calming meeting, and the chief of police was explaining there’s a reason for speed limit. If a kid runs out and the speed limit’s 10 to 15 miles per hour, you’re going to hit them much differently than 30 or 40 miles per hour. If that can resonate with anyone — not everyone’s hearing it, you know?”
Despite this, some residents felt that their requests for traffic calming were falling on deaf ears.
“In the last several months on Liggett going towards Big Bend, they put in speed humps, as well as some mini-rounds to slow traffic, but that bottom portion of Liggett and Ridgewood has not had any improvements,” resident Julie Kauffman said. “The police department and Board of Aldermen went round and round with residents, (the) majority who didn’t live on Liggett, opposing the mini-rounds. Multiple traffic studies were conducted, engineers were consulted … The product was probably delayed about a year because of all of this. Those were just finally put in place probably a month ago.”
Following the Sept. 26 incident, neighbors took matters into their own hands, buying and placing dozens of bright, colorful signs reading “SLOW DOWN, KIDS AND PETS AT PLAY” across the subdivision.
“They want us to beautify Crestwood. We need to make it tacky until (something is) done,” Kearns said. She went on to say that while it’s been “slow movement” with the implementation of additional safety measures across the community, the police have been “so supportive” of the subdivision.
The neighborhood’s grassroots slow down campaign may have just worked; as of Oct. 9, “the city recently installed a warning sign on Liggett Drive near Shoppers Lane to alert drivers that a stop sign is ahead,” according to Crestwood Chief of Police Jonathan Williams. Additional measures include removing a tree partially blocking the stop sign by Neff’s house, putting in a new speed hump and painting white lines in front of the stop signs.
“They’re listening at those meetings …It might require a few times that you’re going and emails and all that, but just keep going,” Kearns said. “(Make) it not combative, more of a collaboration. You’re partnering with your community, you’re partnering with all of the officials, and you’re not just berating them. Working together is so important.”
“All of this stuff takes time,” Ridgewood resident Bridget McKiernan added. “Allowing the time for it to happen, but also being the squeaky wheel when it doesn’t.”
