ST. LOUIS – Wednesday is often referred to as “hump day,” the midpoint of the work week. Every day is now becoming hump day for drivers in St. Louis.

The City of St. Louis has spent nearly $8 million and counting on speed humps to combat its epidemic of reckless driving.

More than 1,100 of the speed humps have already been installed, with about 300 more coming this summer and hundreds more after that.

Supporters say they do what they’re supposed to do.

“Speed humps actually seem to be more effective than stop signs,” Alderman Joe Vollmer (Ward 5) said. “People blow through stop signs.”

There are about 60 humps on neighborhood streets in his south St. Louis ward. About 70 more will be popping up over the next couple of years.

More than two dozen bills for more speed humps citywide came before the Board of Aldermen just in this last session. The bills typically come in response to requests from residents who are tired of living with dangerous driving on the streets where they live or the streets they take to get there.

Close

Thanks for signing up!

Watch for us in your inbox.

Subscribe Now

Breaking News

“They’ve slowed down tremendously (in response to the humps),” said Ron Hodo, who lives in The Hill neighborhood.

“We love the bumps here,” Gail Wood, a fellow Hill resident, said.

Alderman Tom Oldenburg (Ward 2) said reckless driving has gotten worse in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“So, we have to use every tool in our toolbox to try to curb reckless driving,” he said.

It costs the city about $7,000 for each hump and accompanying signage. They may be easier on vehicles than traditional speed bumps, but beware.

“It’s a wider, more comfortable thing to drive over, but you need to slow down!” Vollmer said.

Nearly all drivers do, given the risk of bottoming out and damaging their vehicles. Though people may still be running stop signs, residents say they’re doing so at much slower speeds because of the humps.

“The city had a 70% non-compliance on stop signs,” Oldenburg said, citing a city driving study. “There’s only 30% of people that are making actual legal stops at stop signs. I’d rather have a speed hump than a stop sign.”

With the city police department currently only about 70% staffed and no sign of dramatic change in that regard anytime soon, drivers better get used to the humps.

“I have over $200,000 in speed humps going in over this summer. Until we have the proper amount of police that can patrol and put fear into people that there’s going to be some retribution for their actions,” Vollmer said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2.