DUBLIN, Ohio — Editor’s note: A previous version of this story erroneously included a video we received from a member of our audience. It has since been removed.
Illegal street racing has been a problem around downtown in the Short North but residents in Dublin say it’s now in their area.
“To be honest, the thing that I'm afraid of is one of the drag racers gets into a wreck and kills someone, either the driver or another car that just gets in their way,” Kimberly Shepherd said.
Shepherd says she hears the racing from Interstate 270, but also near Bridge Park and Hayden Run Road.
“We've got the drag racers, but then you also have the supped up cars that sound like they're backfiring, and they like to drive in Bridge Park, where the backfiring echoes,” she said.
Shepherd isn’t the only one concerned. After two days in Bridge Park, almost every resident told 10TV the same thing.
“It's usually every day. There's always a portion of the day where it's happening. There's never a day where we don't have it,’ Carolyn Kane said.
Kane lives off Hayden Run Road where she doesn’t even let her kids play near the street anymore out of fear of getting hurt from racers she says she hears almost every ten minutes.
“I don't ever let them go out front to play, or if they're on the porch, they need to stay right on the porch, because it's dangerous out there, and they go zooming by,” Kane said.
Restaurant owners also shared their concerns with 10TV, including General Manager of Rebel, Kyle Kristanko.
“All it's going to take is someone wanting to show off their new muffler system and not looking,” Kristanko said. “Frankly it's very dangerous and very loud, especially the people that live adjacent to the parking garages, I just don't see the point.”
Kristanko says the parking garages attract loud, reckless drivers every weekend.
“People are going up and down, it's super loud revving up and down and they're just bolting all over the place.” He said.
Kristanko said he wants more police patrolling Bridge Park and would like to see some speed bumps to slow down the high-volume pedestrian areas.
We contacted Dublin Police who released the following statement.
“The Dublin Police Department is actively engaging with residents to find solutions to loud traffic disturbances. Police have directed officers to focus on the Bridge Park area in order to address traffic complaints and concerns.”
Dublin Police also said that they will be launching a campaign in the coming weeks to combat and enforce these issues.
