KHOU 11 clocked several vehicles going over 50 mph on the residential street, and one was zipping by at nearly 65 mph.
HOUSTON — What was once a quiet neighborhood street in north Houston has now become what some residents describe as a dangerous speedway.
Neighbors living in the Fallbrook subdivision say the problem started nearly two years ago when Fallbrook Drive was extended to connect to Interstate 45.
Since then, they say drivers — including semi-trucks — have been flying down their street, ignoring the 20-mph speed limit.
Alejandro Matamoros, 81, has lived in the neighborhood for more than 40 years. He said just checking his mail has become risky.
“It’s been chaos, and it’s been getting worse every day,” Matamoros told KHOU 11. “When they decided to open this street up, we knew we were going to have problems, but we were hoping they would address them right away, but that never happened.”
He said he’s had multiple close calls just trying to pull into his own driveway.
“People tailgate me if I’m doing the speed limit,” he said. “I’ve almost been rear-ended a couple of times.”
Matamoros said he reached out to Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia’s office for help.
“I contacted them right away to see if we could do something about it, but all they would tell me is they’re doing studies on it, and we haven’t seen any results yet.”
Frustrated and hoping for a solution, Matamoros reached out to KHOU 11.
“If nobody else is going to speak out, somebody has got to,” he said. “I worry about somebody losing control and hitting one of the kids in the neighborhood.”
KHOU 11’s radar gun clocks drivers speeding by
To verify neighbors’ claims, KHOU 11 brought out a radar gun and clocked 50 vehicles throughout the day. Even in the late morning, when traffic was lightest, the average speed was nearly 30 mph, 10 miles over the posted limit.
By the afternoon, speeds increased dramatically. Several vehicles were clocked going over 50 mph, with one topping out at nearly 65 mph.
Darrell Henderson, who’s lived in the neighborhood for nearly two decades, said the speeding is constant.
“Is that what it’s going to take? For somebody to die before they do something about it?” he asked as a car sped by during the interview. “All day and all night, every day.”
He and Matamoros said temporary solutions like decoy police cruisers and digital speed signs haven’t worked.
“This used to be closed,” Henderson said. “Now we’ve got a freeway coming through our neighborhood.”
Both men say they’re hoping for more permanent changes, like stop signs, traffic lights, or speed bumps.
“Commissioner Garcia, I hope that you take the bull by the horns and do something,” Matamoros said.
“Please do something,” Henderson added. “Because someone is going to get killed real soon.”
Commissioner Adrian Garcia’s response
KHOU 11 News reached out to Commissioner Garcia’s office. A spokesperson said they are aware of the complaints and shared the formal process for requesting “traffic calming measures” like speed bumps.
That process includes a traffic study, community feedback, and a petition signed by at least 67% of nearby residents.
Commissioner Garcia’s team also noted that he led the effort to create that process, which neighbors now hope will finally bring solutions to Fallbrook Drive.
You can read the full step-by-step guide requesting traffic calming measures here.