LAKELAND, Fla. — Some Lakeland residents are again calling on city officials to do more to protect the city's swan population after another one was struck by a car and killed on Saturday, marking the third such death in little more than a week.
- Mayor Mutz says city's parks and recreation dept. looking at options
- Speed bumps, stop signs in area are potential options
- More Polk County stories
Two of the swans were hit and killed around Lake Morton, the epicenter of the city’s swan population.
Lake Morton neighborhood resident Cynthia Young-Jennings shot video on her phone recently when she came upon a black swan as it was dying in the street after being hit.
“This is what happens when you don’t slow down for swans around the lake,” she can be heard in the video.
Young-Jennings has since been trying to rally public support for new safety measures to protect the swans. That includes more enforcement of the 20 mile-per-hour speed limit around Lake Morton put in place to protect birds.
“I would be hard pressed to see seven cars out of ten follow the speed limit," she said.
Young-Jennings spoke with Mayor Bill Mutz about the issue. He told her the city’s police department and parks and recreation department were looking at proposals to improve safety.
“We’ve asked our parks and rec department to make a recommendation to us on what we ought to think about for next steps of protection,” he said. "But ultimately we have to ask people to be much more careful than when they are driving in other areas.”
Mutz said speed humps and stops signs around the lake were potential options. The city’s parks and recreation director said he hoped to have some recommendations for city leaders in about two weeks.