Residents voice speeding concerns on Panama City road

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WMBB) — Residents who live on Woodridge Road said they feel unsafe because of the number of cars that speed down their street.

“Several times I’ve been almost hit walking my dog on the street,” resident Teresa Robbins said. “I’ve seen other pedestrians almost get hit. I mean, I had one person just whizzed by me and just almost clipped my leg.”

The posted speed limit on Woodbridge Road is 25 miles per hour, but these residents said they sometimes see people doing double that.

“It’s a drag strip,” resident Willie Burleson said. “It’s straight one-quarter of a mile and that’s the way it’s been treated for a number of years. It’s dangerous here. We’ve had to make emergency stops leaving our own residence. I’ve had to make several emergency stops on my motorcycle to prevent getting run over by the speeders up and down Woodridge Road.”

Residents said they have been asking the city to address the issue for decades.

They’ve renewed those calls for action after a man was killed there in a car wreck Monday morning.

“We’re all distressed because there is now a person who is dead,” Robbins said.

Residents said all they want are speed bumps, but Panama City Police Chief Mark Smith said speed bumps aren’t the answer.

“Studies have shown that using the digital sign board or these other means are more effective ways, safer ways than dealing with a speed bump,” Smith said.

Smith said they’ve conducted several week-long traffic studies on Woodridge Road, but said the results didn’t warrant new traffic measures.

He said the city will conduct another study by the end of the month, then make a decision about posting the digital sign board.