MOUNT VERNON — Concerns for the safety of students attending East Elementary School led Mount Vernon City Council to lower the speed limit from 35 mph to 25 mph on a portion of East High Street. The reduced speed limit runs from Park Street to the eastern end of High Street. The new speed limit is temporary, but could become permanent after city officials study the results of the change.
“Council had a piece of legislation introduced last month to reduce that speed limit,” said Mount Vernon Safety-Service Director Dave Glass. “It has been under discussion and studied for the last couple of years. The main concerns that were brought to our attention were the school area where the students cross at George Street, and the speed of vehicles out there.”
The city has tried a couple of different approaches to the problem. The speed trailer, a device that flashes a vehicle’s speed as the vehicle approaches, has been put in the area at various times. The Mount Vernon Police Department and the safety-service director’s office have done traffic surveys in the area to gauge the extent of the problem.
“We’ve tried to count the volume of traffic and the average speed of the vehicles,” Glass said. “We wanted to get some idea of what was actually happening out there.”
Glass said City Council got an opinion from Bill Smith, the city’s law director, about how to go about reducing the speed limit on that stretch of East High Street. It was determined that a residential district that is outside of the central business district can have the speed limit reduced if council declares that the street is not a through highway.
“After the first reading of the legislation [to reduce the speed limit], they asked me under my authority — the safety-service director has the authority to change traffic control devices for up to 90 days — to reduce that to 25 for that period until [council] does or doesn’t take any action,” said Glass.
Glass said he did that more as a test to see what the consequences of the speed change would be. The speed limit reduction is now in the 90-day period, and will stay that way until council acts or the 90-day period expires. Speed limit signs have been posted and the speed trailer will be in the area for an unspecified period of time. Glass has also made the required notifications, primarily to the city council president and the chief of police. The reduced speed limit is being enforced.
“I don’t think speeding was a terrible problem on East High Street,” said Mount Vernon Police Chief Mike Merrilees. “But I know there’s some concern down around the area of East School. There is a lot of pedestrian traffic. The 25 mph speed limit that is in effect now is not permanent. For the first week I’ve urged my officers to give extra patrol in that area. They do have the option to give warnings, especially in the first week. But I can’t guarantee somebody a warning. If somebody is just a little bit over, especially the first week, they might get a warning. But if they are excessive, they are going to get cited any time.”
