BROOKSVILLE — Owners of 168 properties in the Rainbow Woods subdivision will foot the bill for three speed tables along Augustine Road, even as residents say the devices have failed to slow drivers.
The County Commission voted 5-0 on May 12 to approve the Rainbow Woods Traffic Calming Municipal Service Benefit Unit. Each owner will pay $236 in a lump sum by June 11 or $130 a year over two years.
The vote capped a five-year push by residents to address what they describe as a persistent safety hazard on Augustine Road. But several said the speed tables, installed in January, haven’t worked.
“We trusted you, and we trusted the engineer and the recommendations that were given,” resident Linda Allen told commissioners during public comment. “Now we’re here for a hearing to pay for something that did not work.”
Allen said she still can’t walk her 91-year-old mother a half-block to the nearest sidewalk without worrying she’ll be struck.
“The cars are still racing by and going over the speed bumps without stopping,” she said. “The speed humps did not do any good in Rainbow Woods. It has not slowed traffic, it has not deterred traffic. We’re where we were five years ago.”
Allen also said the county fell short on notice for the May 12 hearing. She learned of the agenda item from a neighbor three blocks away, she said, and most residents on her street never received a mailed notice.
The project
The three speed tables sit along the Augustine Road corridor between the intersections of Long Hill Court and Emerald Ridge, Doxsey Hill Circle, and Rainbow Woods Loop and Silverwood Court, according to county documents. The benefit unit covers 168 platted lots in the subdivision.
Construction wrapped up in January at a cost of $30,000, County Engineer Scott Herring said. An inspection on Jan. 7 found the work in compliance with the design.
Property owners also are responsible for $3,000 in engineering, permitting and inspection costs — capped at 10% of construction — and $8,600 in administrative overhead. The total up-front budget is $41,600.
A familiar fight
Residents on other Hernando County roads have made similar complaints over the years, pressing the Sheriff’s Office for stepped-up enforcement and asking the county to install traffic calming devices. Commissioners have responded by offering benefit units like the one approved for Rainbow Woods, arguing the county cannot afford to fund every project itself.
A 2021 effort to slow traffic on Lawrence Street between Barclay Avenue and Landover Boulevard stalled when residents of The Oaks development balked at paying through a benefit unit. A University of Florida traffic study had recommended speed bumps for that stretch, but residents argued the county should cover the cost.
For Allen, the Rainbow Woods outcome suggests the years of advocacy were wasted.
“The speed humps did not do any good,” she said.