CITY WILL LET RESIDENTS USE RADAR GUNS; SPEEDERS TARGETED ON T.O. STREET.

Byline: Sonia Giordani Daily News Staff Writer

Along the 100-yard stretch of Northam Avenue, where overeager drivers often whip through a shortcut rush-hour route between the Ventura Freeway and Lynn Road, residents recount chilling tales of speed demons racing by within inches of their lives.

Counting about 20 homes and about 25 children, from tots to teens, who often play ball or run into their otherwise calm narrow street, frustrated residents have wished for months that the city would install speed bumps to slow down the growing current of traffic.

``We have a significant amount of traffic and a lot of speeders, and we're concerned about our kids getting hit,'' said Rick Smith, father of five. ``I was nearly hit once while I was talking to a neighbor. The car was within inches.''

In recent months, neighbors took up a petition urging the city to install speed bumps - the popular concrete swells that have increasingly appeared along residential roadways in Thousand Oaks in recent years in response to increasing complaints about rabid roadsters.

But when the residents of Northam Avenue presented the petition, the city jumped at the chance to offer a more active method to slow the drivers.

This month, the city will put radar guns in the hands of concerned residents eager to track the speed demons - and their license plates - in a pilot program that already has piqued the interest of a dozen other neighborhoods with similar concerns.

While residents won't be responsible for issuing traffic citations, they will provide the Thousand Oaks Police Department with the identification of violators. The department will issue warning letters to first-time violators and may pay a visit to the home of a repeat offender.

The information gathered also will help city staff determine the extent of the reported traffic problem in the Northam neighborhood, said Donald Nelson, director of public works in Thousand Oaks.

``About one year ago, the City Council directed us to look at traffic-calming devices and mechanisms. Out of that came this concept,'' Nelson said.

The city will train neighborhood volunteers to use the radar equipment for a three-day tracking period in mid-January, the results of which will be reviewed by city staff and police, he said.

``I hope this will alleviate unnecessary traffic and slow people down. It's really scary. I see people flying down the street all the time,'' said Kathryn Howard, a resident of Northam Avenue. ``I'm scared to just back out of my driveway.''

Howard was among the dozens of residents who signed a petition for speed bumps.

``We've had a lot of complaints about speeding on residential streets, near children and schools, and everybody wants to put in speed bumps,'' said Catherine Schutz, chairwoman of the city's traffic and transportation commission. ``We felt there needed to be other ways, because humps are not always the right answer, and this program was devised as an alternative.''

Schutz said the pilot program will give residents a chance to take a proactive role in slowing speeders down.

But some residents say they don't necessarily believe a three-day program aiming radar guns at speeding cars - many of which belong to neighbors - is the right solution.

``We're not law enforcement,'' said resident Rick Smith, who still prefers speed bumps. ``I don't think this will make for good neighborly relations either if we're trying to trap people who live a few doors down.''

Nelson said the responsibility to ease the pace of area drivers depends on a collective effort by residents, the city and police - and ultimately on reminding drivers to respect the laws of the street and the residents living on them.

``It comes down to the motorists being more respectful and prudent,'' he said.