MOUNT VERNON — The result of a recent traffic study by the state may spell the end of a much-debated proposal to lower the speed limit on a stretch of Gambier Road. The study states that no change in the speed limit is warranted.
Mount Vernon City Council had debated lowering the speed limit on Gambier Road, roughly between its intersections with Quarry Street and Eastern Star Road, and a number of residents with concerns about traffic safety advocated the lowering of the speed limit from 45 mph to 35 mph.
The Ohio Department of Transportation has the final say on the proposed speed limit change, as Gambier Road is part of Ohio 229. ODOT officials agreed to fund the study, based on council’s proposal.
“Based on the crash analysis of the intersection, no significant safety or operational issues were found to exist,” the study reports. “The speed analysis did not yield a significant speeding problem in this area as the majority of the speeds taken in this area were between 40 and 50 mph, which is to be expected with a speed limit of 45 mph ... the current speed limit on this section of Ohio 229 given the roadway features, number of access and crash history.”
Councilman John Fair, a proponent of a lowered speed limit, said he disagrees with the study’s findings and feels the 45 mph speed limit creates a traffic hazard. He said he has received a number of calls from local residents complaining about speeding traffic in the area, and pointed out that a number of other streets in Mount Vernon — including Mansfield Avenue and Sandusky Street — have a 35 mph speed limit.
Councilman Burt Hanson, who lives along that stretch of Gambier Road, voiced his opposition to the speed limit change at more than one council meeting. He said he appreciates the ODOT study, which he said bore out the fact that he thought it would — the speed limit doesn’t need to be lowered. Hanson added that the study did comment positively on a joint city-county project that will add turn lanes to all four approaches to the Gambier Road-Edgewood Road intersection.
Tyrell Thompson, an ODOT transportation engineeer, wrote that the joint city-county project should help improve safety at the intersection, adding that further safety measures should include signs for westbound traffic that warn of an intersection ahead and signal timing adjustments.
Gary Gray, who also lives on the stretch of road in question and who, along with 60 other individuals, presented a petition to City Council in favor of lowering the speed limit, said he doesn’t think it can be said that 45 mph is a safe speed given the steep hill leading down to a busy intersection. He said 35 mph would be safer.
Fair said he now plans to focus his efforts on lowering the speed limit along East High Street, from 35 mph to 25 mph. He will also work toward having two safe school crossings, with the appropriate signs, installed for East School students.
