By Allen Payton

A pair of speed bumps placed on 11th Street in Antioch on Friday, without city authorization, were removed by city workers, Monday morning. They were placed in response to the desires of Linda Hudson, who lives on the street and is the mother of Tim Hudson who died as a result of being hit by a car, there, last month.

At the same time the speed bumps were being removed, Hudson and her husband Jerry, were attending the funeral for their son, according to other news reports.

Mrs. Hudson spoke at last Tuesday night’s council meeting, in an attempt to get the city to place the speed bumps on the street where she lives. But, the city has to follow state standards and city policy, according to City of Antioch Public Works Director Ron Bernal.

Had the speed bumps been allowed to stay and an accident occurred as a result, the city could have been held financially liable.

“We [city staff] got together this morning,” Bernal said. “We developed a plan to deal with the installation, that did not follow the policy in place, which was adopted in 1998.”

Regarding the removal occurring during Tim Hudson’s funeral, Bernal responded, “We did not know the family was at the funeral. It was not our intent to upset the family when they were grieving over their loss. We wanted to do it as soon as possible, because we feel it was a liability.”

The process for placing speed tables on a city street, as the city refers to them, has eight points that need to be satisfied.

First, 75% of the affected property owners have to approve of the placement of the speed tables;

Second, the speed tables, and related signing and striping must be placed at no cost to the city;

Third, the following agencies must sign off including Antioch Police Department, Contra Costa Fire Department, Tri Delta Transit and the Antioch Unified School District;

Fourth, a speed survey must be conducted;

Fifth, the speed tables can only be removed upon receipt of petition of 51% of affected property owners;

Sixth, the petition to gather the signatures of affected property owners must include a copy of this list of conditions;

Seventh, construction of the speed tables can be done using either city staff or by a private contractor; and

Eighth, items 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 must be satisfactorily completed, before approval can be obtained.

Please click here to view the details: Speed Table Conditions.

“Could they possibly satisfy the conditions to install the speed tables? Yes. But, the city doesn’t currently budget for them,” Bernal added.

If the Hudsons or their neighbors want to pursue the issue, they will have to follow the process to get speed bumps placed on their street, again.