ST. PETERSBURG - Tanglewood neighbors thought their signs meant to slow speeders were working. Since posting the signs in May in their yards along Tanglewood Drive NE, Bayou Grande Drive NE, and over a small bridge around the Tanglewood development, some drivers seemed to be using more caution.
But vandals early Saturday proved that their struggles are far from over. Originally, signs that read "Safety First, Drive 25" had lined nearly every yard along Tanglewood Drive NE from 62nd Avenue to Bayou Grande Drive NE. But by Saturday morning only a dozen or so were still standing.
And their messages had changed.
Black spray paint altered the "25" on the signs to read "85" or "1,250."
Others suffered more creative damage, such as a sign with enough blacked-out letters to read "SET FIRE" or "ARRIVE 85!"
Scott Petrucci, a financial planner who moved into Tanglewood last month, found his sign altered to read "Drive 125."
Although many on the Tanglewood development also posted the cautionary signs, none of those were damaged. Most neighbors need only a word to name the likely suspects: kids.
"I don't think an adult went around and spray painted these signs," said Kelly Basil, 43, who found his own sign missing. Basil said the speeds of cars down Tanglewood Drive NE worried him. His 12-year-old daughter, Morgan, often plays with a friend across the street. Speeders threaten them, Kelly said.
Vino Guild, one of the antispeeding organizers, said his own campaign may have backfired. Some people have been angered by the signs, said Guild, 36.
His neighbor, Connie Kone, had a different view.
"Most people I've talked to want the signs and support the program," said Kone, a former City Council member. "I have had a number of people say that they do remind them and so on."
Some had removed the signs from their yards, planning to put them back up before school starts in August. It just makes more sense not to have them in front of everybody all the time, said Connie Westerberg, who has been canvassing residents about jump-starting the Tanglewood Neighborhood Association.
"I can only surmise that it's people who disagree," said Westerberg, 50, guessing about the identity of the vandals.
Even if those are all juveniles, some wonder whether the Tanglewood neighborhood has enough support to petition the city for traffic calming. Doing so takes a majority of residents. A neighborhood association usually makes the request, said Michael Frederick, a neighborhood transportation manager for the city.
The city sometimes also installs traffic calming devices after determining that an area is dangerous. For example, Shore Acres a few years ago rejected a traffic calming plan, but the city conducted traffic studies and installed five speed humps there anyway.
The city has studied Tanglewood Drive NE in August and found average speeds of 5 to 11 miles over the posted 25 mph speed limit.
For now, Tanglewood neighbors are leaving their spray-painted signs in place. Said Westerberg, "It's a reminder to the whole community." Some neighbors wonder if it will take a tragedy for people to slow down.
"At this point, it's getting ridiculous," Guild said.
