City engineers say they have learned a little about speed humps since the first such traffic-calming devices were installed in a Santa Fe neighborhood.

Public Works Department Director Robert Romero said that after receiving complaints for several years that the asphalt bumps on Arroyo Chamiso Road were not as gradual as those built elsewhere in Santa Fe, the city went out to inspect them and decided they needed updating.

"We have gone through a very extensive process in developing standards for traffic-calming procedures," Romero said. "These were built before we developed the current standards we have now."

The Arroyo Chamiso Road humps were reshaped last month to meet the new standards.

"The approaches were too short," explained Chris Ortega, division director of engineering. "Those approaches were cut off and then redone to meet the proper configuration."

The $12,000 cost of the work was covered by bond funds used for traffic-calming projects, Ortega said.

"They will still serve the function of getting drivers to feel really uncomfortable if they're going faster than the speed limit," he said of the reconfigured humps.

Back in 2001, members of the Arroyo Chamiso/Sol y Lomas (ACSyL) Homeowners Association collected 14 pages of signatures in favor of constructing speed bumps in the neighborhood. Longtime resident Mary Dykton had played a major role in circulating the petition.

"The road turned so dangerous after they paved it," she explained. "With regularity, the St. Mike's track team runs the street. Parents are driving their kids to school. Kids on bikes, kids walking."

Dykton said she was disappointed that the speed humps were changed after the effort that went into getting them there in the first place.