Thursday, October 1, 2026
Cedarhurst residents once again urged village officials to take action against speeding and dangerous driving throughout the village at the Board of Trustees meeting on Sept. 8, calling for speed bumps and other measures to improve pedestrian and traffic safety.
Residents said drivers routinely ignore stop signs, speed through residential streets and disregard other traffic regulations, creating dangerous conditions for pedestrians, bicyclists and other motorists.
Irene Redless, who has lived on Argyle Road for more than 45 years, told the board that speeding has become a serious problem on her street and throughout Cedarhurst.
“Cars don’t stop for stop signs,” Redless said. “And even when they see a child, they don’t stop.”
Redless said Argyle Road is not the only street where drivers travel too quickly, pointing to Rugby Road as another area of concern. She urged the village to consider installing speed bumps throughout Cedarhurst.
“The only way to stop them ... is speed bumps throughout this entire town,” she said.
Redless also questioned the effectiveness of some of the village’s illuminated stop signs, saying that only a few appeared to be working. She emphasized that drivers need to be more conscious of the safety of children and others who live in the village.
“You need to slow down and respect the people that live here,” she said.
Simon Shamalzadi, a Bayview Avenue resident for 15 years, echoed those concerns, saying traffic patterns and driver behavior in the village have changed significantly.
“I wish it was 30 miles an hour,” Shamalzadi said of traffic on Bayview Avenue. “It’s more than 30 miles an hour.”
Shamalzadi said drivers frequently swerve around vehicles and disregard stop signs. He said he has had to replace his car’s side mirror nearly every two months because of traffic incidents.
He also cited problems along Cedarhurst Avenue, including double and triple parking, as well as drivers making illegal turns and traveling in the wrong direction.
“When I go and motion to people to please slow down, the motion that I get back is a middle finger,” Shamalzadi said.
He said drivers leaving the CVS on Washington Avenue routinely make left turns despite signs prohibiting the maneuver, contributing to congestion and creating dangerous conditions.
Shamalzadi also described what he called dangerous driving around the Cedarhurst business district, saying he had nearly been struck twice by vehicles.
He supported the residents’ calls for speed bumps, saying they should not be limited to Argyle Road.
“I really think this needs to be addressed,” he said.
Mayor Benjamin Weinstock said the village is moving forward with traffic studies that will help officials determine what safety measures are appropriate.
According to Weinstock, the studies will examine traffic patterns and potential locations for speed humps on Argyle Road and Summit Avenue, among other traffic and parking-related issues throughout the village.
Weinstock said the village waited until after the summer to conduct the studies because traffic patterns can be different when residents are on vacation and school buses are not operating.
“To make sure we have a proper traffic pattern and intensity, we had to wait until this time to get studied,” Weinstock said.
The studies are expected to give village officials a foundation for determining whether speed humps and other traffic-calming measures are appropriate.
“Safety has to be primary,” Redless said
