Residents in an Undercliff Avenue neighborhood are happy to have speed humps installed after appealing to the Mayor and Council last year.

A petition requesting speed control on Undercliff Avenue between Russell Avenue and Archer Street was given to the council in June 2007. With heavy congestion on River Road, motorists tend to use Undercliff Avenue, which runs parallel, as an alternative.

Residents say cars speed through the residential neighborhood, which includes a popular park for kids.

The council approved the purchase of two speed humps last year. After waiting for warm weather to schedule the work, the Department of Public Works installed the humps last month on the northern and southern end of Undercliff Avenue.

"We installed two rubber speed humps to assist with the flow of traffic," Tom Quinton, head of the DPW, said. "We’re just trying to help the residents out."

Selena Keesecker, an Undercliff Avenue resident, helped spearhead the petition efforts. She said the residents were prompted to do something because they had heard about a young boy being killed in an accident several years ago.

"They put in a speed bump on Russell and Undercliff avenues but we see people ignoring the (posted) speed signs," Keesecker said. "And now we have more strollers and children around."

She said the residents wanted to find a way to slow the traffic down in their neighborhood.

"So we got together and made the petition," Keesecker said. "We decided it was important to protect the children."