COLUMBIA, S.C. — Some residents of southeast Columbia are finally getting answers after years of concerns about speeding drivers on their street.
Bill Cook is frustrated with speeding drivers coming down his road. He lives on Patricia Drive, just off of Leesburg Road in Columbia. He says in the past couple of months, drivers have been flying down the road.
"This is nothing but a racetrack. [If] you sit here, I guarantee you within ten minutes you're going to see two or three cars go 40, 55, 60 miles per hour down here," Cook said.
His neighbor, William McElveen, says it's a daily concern. "Especially at night, I can hear them inside really zipping by," McElveen said. "I've seen people in cars, motorcycles, really zip up and down this road at a high rate of speed."
Another resident, who asked not to be identified, says he's lost 2 cats in a matter of years as a result of reckless drivers along the busy road.
"Of course, you gotta walk out here and see your cat dead in the road because people were speeding," he said. "Almost been hit myself multiple times, just talking to my neighbor at his fence."
Cook says for years, he and his neighbors have been trying to make the road safer, at one point even trying to petition the county to make changes, to no avail.
We reached out to District 11 Council Member Chakisse Newton, who says thanks to our reporting, she was made aware of the concerns, and is working with the Richland County Sheriff's Department to make the road safer.
"I reached out to our law enforcement partners at the [Richland County] sheriff's department and told them about the complaints on Patricia, and they have agreed to give it some priority enforcement so we can see what we can do to make sure that people are driving appropriately in that area," Newton said.
For those seeking a speed bump on their road, she adds that the process starts with reaching out to the county and making a request. Residents can reach out to the Richland County Ombudsman at (803) 929-6000 or email ombudsman@richlandcountysc.gov.
"So, then we begin a process where we evaluate how many cars are going down the road. How fast are they going? Are there school children that are there? What are the safety concerns for this road? And then after that goes through the process, then it's determined whether or not this road is a candidate for getting speed humps."