Most speed bumps reviewed outside Philadelphia schools don't meet safety, design standards, report says

More than 100 speed bumps near Philadelphia schools were installed improperly, a new report from the Philadelphia City Controller's Office says.

Investigators reviewed speed bumps outside 44 city schools for the report released Thursday. According to City Controller Christy Brady, they found only two of the 140 cushions reviewed were in compliance with the standards set in city blueprints and contracts.

"What we found were grades that were two to three times the amount; 95% of the speed cushions we looked at were at an improper grade," Brady said.

In the report, officials say one of the speed cushions outside George Childs Elementary School in Point Breeze was measured to have a 33% grade. That, according to the report, is more than triple the blueprint specifications, which say cushions should not exceed a 10% grade.

The overall height of the speed bumps was also found to be an issue. More than a quarter of the cushions reviewed were found to be higher than the target of 3 to 4 inches. The highest, outside Henry Lawton Elementary School in Wissinoming, measured 7 inches.

In an email to CBS News Philadelphia, a spokesperson said the streets department is reviewing the report and is committed to addressing the issues and recommendations in it.

Brady says inconsistencies can be a problem for drivers, who could scrape their cars on cushions that are too high.

"People will swerve out of the way, thus creating a safety hazard if people are going into the other lane of traffic or maybe the parking lane," Brady said.

Brady says it's also a hit to the city's wallet. Since a 2023 city ordinance, the city has been installing many of these cushions around schools to cut down on speeds. The controller said it costs, on average, around $51,000 for the city to have speed cushions installed at one school, and around $2.2 million for the 44 schools they reviewed.

"We looked at a third of the schools. So we're looking at possibly 6 million or more that the city has spent, and knowing that all but two were improperly installed, we need to fix them," Brady said.

That fix would likely have to start with the streets department. Brady says the streets department was expected to oversee contractors that were paid to do this work while also doing some of the work themselves. She believes the city should go back to these contractors and have them fix the issues.

"We have the blueprints," Brady said. "They just need to have proper oversight on the installation and go back and fix the ones that were installed."