I think Latimer Ave and possibly Colombo would be good candidates for traffic calming. There is a lot of high-speed through traffic on Latimer. About 2 years ago after a hit-and-run on my property, I observed the traffic one evening closely. Only about 40% of the evening traffic was through traffic (Saratoga to Hamilton) which was lower than I thought it would be (but maybe there were a lot of locals returning home from work) but almost all of the through traffic was going over 40MPH. I guess this higher speed isn't surprising since the primary motivation of the through traffic is aggressive drivers trying to beat the lights on the other major streets. Late at night about 80% of the traffic is through - and a fair amount of it "cruising" around with the radio blaring.
In the years I've lived there, there have been several accidents on Latimer, usually late at night on the "curve" on Latimer. All the ones that I know of where the driver has been caught involved alcohol. I have also seen accidents where the aggressive cut-through drivers misjudge traffic and get t-boned as the cross/turn left on the very wide Hamilton Ave. One of these in the past 6 years was an injury accident. There have been cars totaled in driveways and there's a reason why most of the street trees there are small or in sore shape. The curved block of Latimer is filled with lore of a injury accident rollover at the curve and even a car in a bedroom years ago before I moved in. This doesn't count the accidents that occurred when Hilton had no stop sign where it crosses Latimer and people unfamiliar with the neighborhood used to cross Latimer not realizing that they were entering an uncontrolled intersection.
Right now there are 9 small children who now live within 100 feet of the Latimer curve. I've been avoiding teaching my kids to ride on a bike because of the problems.
There's some through traffic on Columbo too, but I don't think it is as bad but could probably use some abatement. I was recently shocked at how many people cut through on Southwood since it doesn't seem to give a huge time advantage but I guess some people will do anything to save 30 seconds. I recall phoning in one injury accident on Columbo about 5 years ago after turning around after hearing screeching tires and seeing a car versus kid but in that case I don't think speed or driver error was a factor.
A stop sign at Latimer/Vallejo would reduce speed, and would be the cheapest and fastest option, but I think the broader traffic calming changes would be far more effective at cutting through traffic. Neighbors have told me that the city rejected previous pleas for a stop sign there. I've seen in some other neighborhoods traffic calming cut speeds down to 20 MPH and eliminate nearly all cut through traffic. Unfortunately, the Hathaway area never got any of the traffic calming when the city actually had money to do it.
Banning a left turn or through from Latimer onto Hamilton would help a lot too, but I'd worry that it'd inconvenience too many local residents and local traffic would then have to get out through a different street and have to drive through the neighborhood more.
