Burleson Star (Burleson, Tex.), Vol. 20, No. 96, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 12, 1985 Page: 2 of 44
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2A—Burleson Star, Thursday, September 12,1985
Gardens Boulevard residents
ask city to ‘stop* speeding
BY KIM RENFRO
A lone car headed south on
Johnson Avenue in search of
competition for the undefeated
engine. The slick black paint om-
inously reflected any moonlight
that dared to shine on the car’s
body. Darkly tinted windows con-
cealed the driver’s identity from
the world for two reasons. One
was the air of mystery attached
to the unseen driver with a string
of drag race wins. The other was
fear of identification by the many
residents who lived on his
favorite Burleson racetrack—
Gardens Boulevard
The driver smiled to himself as
he slowed for the benefit of a
police car cruising north on
Johnson. The officials had yet to
catch him violating the speed
limit so the king of city street
drag racing was a mystery even
to the cops.
Excitement tingled through the
driver as he approached the in-
tersection of Johnson and Gar-
dens. He felt that same thrill
every time he entered his favorite
track. Mr. black Tians Am took a
deep breath, turned left on Gar-
dens, and accelerated east
toward another race.
The mothers on Gardens
know this driver. They don't
know his name or recognize his
face, but they know the driver.
He may be in a black Trans Am
one time, a turquoise Camaro
the next, a bronze T-Bird on
Friday, or a white Monte Carlo
on Saturday. He may be a she.
Young or old, rich or poor,
married or single, this threat to
their children's welfare is known
by the mothers on Gardens
Boulevard. And they fear him.
Charla Upton is one Gardens
Boulevard mother of three
whose fight against the driver
has turned into a battle with city
hall. Since March she’s been try-
ing to have a stop sign installed
somewhere on the .5 mile stretch
of Gardens which is void of any
traffic device. She hopes it can be
installed before someone is hurt.
Or worse.
"I'm trying to stop the speed-
ing before an accident occurs,"
she emphasized. "Unfortunately,
the city’s attitude is 'No credit, no
loan. No dead bodies, no stop
sign."
She unaffectionately calls the
street’s speeders "The Gardens
Blvd. Frequent Fliers.”
Upton has kept careful records
on the problem including a
count of 380 cars on the street
last Friday between 7 p.m. and 8
p.m. Although the football game
in nearby Elk Stadium that night
may have contributed to the
heavy traffic, Upton insists the
high number was normal week-
end traffic.
Her records include many calls
to the police whom she praised
for their usually quick response.
She understands the officials
can’t be there all of the time,
however. Her records also in-
clude requests for the city to do
something about the problem.
Last March Upton contacted
Street Superintendant Dave
Stringer who said he would
research the problem.
TVvo 30 m.p.h. speed limit signs
were erected on the street but,
‘They're so high nobody noticed
them," Upton said.
The signs are high according to
Vernon Wallace at the Traffic En-
gineering Office of the Texas
Department of Highways and
Public Transportation who said
"We primarily base the height of
our signs on the Standard
Manual on Uniform Traffic Con-
trol Devices which indicates the
lower edge of a sign should be
five to seven feet from the pave-
ment.” The lower edges of the
two Gardens Boulevard signs are
eight feet six inches.
Wallace said although the
manual is a guideline rather than
a regulation, local entities were
supposed to use the same
criteria.
Upton called Director of Public
Works Bill Davison after the city
placed a traffic counter on the
street. She said Davison told her
the research didn’t warrant put-
ting in a stop sign because there
wasn't enough hourly traffic and
no serious accidents or deaths
had occurred on the street.
Davison informed her the next
step would be to get a petition
signed by the area's residents.
On Aug. 18, Upton fought the
Texas heat to begin circulating a
petition for the stop sign. As she
knocked on neighborhood doors
she found the residents were un-
animous in wanting the speeding
on the street stopped (except for
one teenager who Upton claims
is one of the most frequent
offenders).
Dola Seals is one of those
neighbors who’s been fighting
the problem for a long time. She
said the heavy flow of traffic
wouldn’t be so bad if the speed
was held at 30 miles per hour.
The traffic has become such a
problem she is forced to venture
outside in the early morning
hours to back her car into the
driveway in order to successfully
leave her house for work
around 7:30.
She wouldn’t dare try to back
her car onto the street during the
morning traffic hours. "When
you have cars going 45-50 (her
husband said 55-60) you can’t
pull your car out of the
driveway,” she commented.
Seals said she would not only
like to see a stop sign installed on
Gardens between Johnson and
Irene, but a stripe painted down
the middle. "You can cope with
traffic as long as it’s going at a
reasonable speed," she added.
Dola’s main concern was for
.the neighborhood kids although
the Seals do not have children. "I
worry about the small kids. They
can't judge the speed of a
vehicle."
Seals said she wants to see
children be able to play safely
and, "If it takes a four-way stop
sign at every intersection then
that’s OK with me.”
Another Gardens Boulevard
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Burleson Church of Christ
820S.W. Wilthirt (Huy. 174) 295-2233
To Whom It May Concern:
My husband and I recently had an automobile wreck while waiting
to turn into our driveway at 309 Gardens Blvd. We feel that a stop
sign at the comer of Judith and Gardens would prevent this tragedy
from happening to someone else.
We were all very lucky that there were no serious injuries other than
damage to both vehicles involved.
We had a witness who said the person who ran into our vehicle was
travelling very fast. A stop sign at the intersection could slow the traf-
fic down and save someone’s life—perhaps a small child.
Sincerely,
Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Hawkins
309 S.E. Gardens
Burleson
About 6 months ago my dog ran out the front door to the middle of
the street. I saw a car about 3 blocks away but the car was going so
fast that I could not save her. And she died and that girl did not even
stop to say sorry.
Stacy Hendrix,
age 11
232 Gardens
To The Burleson City Council:
Attached is a petition with 76 signatures of Burleson citizens who
want stop signs placed on Gardens Boulevard at the comer of
Judith Street.
Gardens Boulevard has become a terrible safety hazard for drivers,
pedestrians, and residents. With the exception of one 19 year old that
I have called the police on several times, not one person refused to
sign (the petition). Everyone agrees that something has to be
done!
The teenagers use Gardens as a race track. Over half of the houses
I visited have had speeders drive over their yards. Some have had
trees knocked out by cars and quite a few have had cars almost hit
them from being out of control.
Children are not allowed to play in their own yards. People are hav-
ing to leave for work 10 to 15 minutes early because they can’t get on
to the street Safely.
Something HAS to be done before someone is killed.
Gharla Upton
)
Dear Council Members:
We are writing this letter to inform you of a potentially
dangerous situation.
Wc are the parents of a 1 -year-old girl and are expecting our second
child at Christmas. Because of the lack of control of speeders on our
street, we cannot allow the child to play in her own front yard. On
three different occasions people have lost control of their vehicles
after "spinning out" at the stop sign at Irene and Gardens. We believe
that if the police were seen out here two or three times on each shift a
lot of this hot-rodding would stop.
We also believe a stop sign added on the comer of Judith and Gap
dens would help control the speeders since the police won’t.
1 have called the police on several occasions to turn in people driv-
ing considerably over the 30 miles per hour speed zone. We feel
something needs to be done to rectify this situation before another
child or adult is killed out here.
We sincerely hope it does not take a tragedy to get your attention or
that of the Burleson Police Department.
Sincerely yours, ,
Mr. and Mrs. Paul E.Reaves
resident, Marilyn Hawkins, said
she and husband Ken don’t see
the traffic as much because of
working hours which take them
away during the crux of the pro-
blem but that the couple had ex-
perienced an unexpected intro-
duction with one of the street’s
speeders.
The Hawkins’ were waiting for
traffic to pass on Gardens in
their 75 Jimmy Aug. 9 when a
white Monte Carlo rear-ended
them. Hawkins said the police-
man who wrote the case report
on the accident remarked they
were very lucky no one had been
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seriously hurt or even killed from
the accident.
"A witness told me the girl was
going real fast," Hawkins remem-
bered. “If there had been a stop
sign she couldn’t have been
going so fast,” she added.
Upton turned in the petition
with 76 names on it last week to
City Manager Ron Crabtree. He
said, "We received the petition a
few days ago and we’re looking
into it.”
Now it’s up to Crabtree and the
city to do something about the
problem.
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Moody, James. Burleson Star (Burleson, Tex.), Vol. 20, No. 96, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 12, 1985, newspaper, September 12, 1985; Burleson, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth760903/m1/2/?q=music: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Burleson Public Library.