In response to many accidents and decades of speeding issues, the town of Prospect has installed a speed bump before the intersection at Porter Hill Road as well as a stop sign at the top of the hill. 

The speeding issue on Straitsville Road is not only a problem, it was the cost of someone’s life nearly eight years ago. 

In July of 2014, Carmen Michael Santoro died at the intersection of Porter Hill Road and Straitsville Road. He was t-boned by a speeding car on the drivers side as he inched up on Porter Hill Road to look for oncoming traffic. 

Two years before the accident of Carmen Santoro, David Santoro Sr., his son, pushed for the town to add something at the intersection to slow people down. 

“I told them it was a dangerous intersection; somebody was going to get killed there and two years later, it was my dad,” said Santoro.

Over the years, Prospect has taken speeding precautions by painting “SLOW” on Straitsville Road, putting in radar speed signs, adding mirrors to improve sight of oncoming cars, etc. 

“Around town there are arrows in some of the corners. On all major roads, I put white lines down the sides of the roads to keep the older drivers able to see in the fog or heavy rain,” said Mayor Robert Chatfield. 

Burglaries around Prospect also sparked the request of speed bumps. Two public hearings on safety in town were placed in response to the burglaries.

“One of the things that came out loud and clear from the people that came, [was] they were looking for speed bumps,” said Chatfield.

The stop sign and speed bump installment has done its job reducing speeding and keeping drivers safe. 

“[The stop sign] makes it much safer for me to pull out of my road and the added speed bump slows people down,” said Santoro. 

Although the installments are a relief for Santoro, he still believes there needs to be a few more speed bumps on the road to keep people driving at the speed limit. 

Chatfield says if this first speed bump works out, there may be more on Straitsville or other roads. 

“We’re going to see how this goes and we might look at another couple of streets in the spring.” 

Originally posted by Republican American