Some Hamburg residents, who so far have been unsuccessful in dealing with government bureaucracy, are taking their case directly to the people.
They installed 20 sequential signs along both sides of McKinley Parkway Wednesday evening, asking motorists to drive at 35 mph, rather than at the posted 55 mph limit. The new signs are posted on private property and no one will mistake them for official highway signs, said Phil Best, a McKinley Parkway resident.
"It is a test of human nature," said Frank Parlato Jr., an area developer and spokesman for the group. "Will people drive courteously without the force of law? I think they will."
The idea for the signs grew out of a brainstorming session and appeal "to the better side of people" to be courteous, said Best.
Residents don't expect any problems like they encountered with the police in August, when they posted their own official-looking 35 mph speed limit signs, Best said. Police asked that they be removed shortly after they were posted.
Residents collected about $ 250 to have the new laminated plastic signs that were put up Tuesday professionally painted, Parlato said. The signs are about 3 feet by 2 1/2 feet.
Residents have been trying for years to get the speed limit reduced on the two-mile stretch of McKinley Parkway between the Seven Corners and the Erie County Fairgrounds.
County officials have said speed studies do not document the need for a reduced speed.
Residents also have done some legal research and plan to ask the Hamburg Town Board to exercise its home rule powers and lower the speed limit regardless of what the county says, Best and Parlato said.
The northbound series of signs read: Ethical, Courageous And Kind Neighbors . . . Please Drive 35 mph . . . Please Respect . . . The Lives and Safety .
. . Of Our Children . . . 35 mph Is Safe . . . For A Residential
Neighborhood . . . This Is Our Neighborhood . . . Not A Freeway . . . Thank You For Going Slow.
The southbound signs read: Moral, Kind And Concerned Neighbors . . . People Live On This Street . . . Please Drive 35 mph . . . 3320 Accidents . . . Have Occurred Here . . . The County Says 55 . . . The People Say 35 . . . We Wouldn't Drive 55 . . . In Your Neighborhood . . . Please Drive 35.