ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, November 15, 1996 TAG: 9611150054
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRISTINA NUCKOLS STAFF WRITER
ROANOKE COUNTY officials want a say on how speed limits are set in outlying areas.
Tired of cars whizzing by their homes, residents of one section of Bandy Road successfully petitioned to have speed limit signs posted two years ago.
But they got more than they bargained for - the speed limit dropped from 55 mph to 25 mph - and now residents are petitioning to have the speed limit raised to 35 or 40 mph.
Vinton Supervisor Harry Nickens points to Bandy Road as an example of the axiom, "Be careful what you ask for; you might get it." It's also a case study in how difficult it can be to set speed limits on rural roads.
The slow zone on Bandy, which initially ran from Garden City Boulevard to Eanes Lane, was expanded south to Rockingham Boulevard this spring.
Mike Ferguson, a lawyer who lives on Bandy Road, believes the decision to cut the speed limit by more than half was "overzealous and ill-advised." Many of his neighbors agree, particularly those who got speeding tickets. The number of tickets given on Bandy shot up from 20 in 1994 to 53 last year. The total for 1996 is 48 and counting.
Roscoe Martin would be more than happy to move those speed limit signs down to his end of Bandy Road. His farm is located in the southern portion, which is unposted and allows vehicles to legally travel 55 mph. They're often closer to 70 mph.
"Once they get out of that limited area, they really pick up because they're irritated," he said. "It's almost impossible to get across the road anymore.''
He's afraid he or his Labrador retriever, Bubba, is eventually going to get creamed on their frequent trips to Martin's vegetable fields.
Setting speed limits has traditionally been the job of the Virginia Department of Transportation. But now Roanoke County officials say they want a say in what can be a touchy issue. Catawba Supervisor Spike Harrison, whose district has the most rural roads, said he would like to see speed limits lowered on some roads where VDOT has refused to do so. But he also fears county officials may get what they ask for and open themselves up to a deluge of speed limit requests.
VDOT follows federal guidelines when it sets speed limits, said spokeswoman Laura Bullock.
"They can't just be set willy-nilly," she said.
Anyone can file a request with the state asking for a speed limit change. At that point, VDOT performs a traffic study, which looks at how fast cars are already traveling on the road. As a rule, the department tries to set a maximum speed that would put 85 percent of the motorists clocked in the traffic study within the legal limits. VDOT may lower that maximum speed if the road is particularly curvy or if there have been a large number of accidents.
Roanoke County Administrator Elmer Hodge believes the guidelines should be more flexible.
"There are times when the older measurements on traffic aren't valid anymore," he said.
Hodge has asked VDOT officials to treat the county as a partner in making speed limit decisions. What that means, he said, is that VDOT would notify county officials about any speed limit requests and would allow them to participate in reviews of those requests. The process would allow county officials to poll all residents along a road when one of them requests a change in the speed limit to make sure there is agreement.
County and VDOT officials met to discuss the proposal last week, Hodge said.
"We were not able to reach an agreement on how to proceed," he said, adding that another meeting is scheduled for next week.
State law allows counties to set their own speed limits, but only if they do their own traffic study. Hodge said Roanoke County doesn't have the staff necessary to do traffic studies, but there's no law forbidding a partnership like the one he's proposing.
Bandy Road is one case where county officials say they'd like to be involved. Hodge said he believes the speed limit was lowered too much on the northern section of Bandy.
Another problem area is Twelve O'Clock Knob Road, where VDOT denied a request last year by local residents for posted speed limits. Another traffic study is under way.
Bandy Road residents have filed a petition with 188 signatures asking that the 25 mph speed limit be increased to 35 or 40 mph. Another petition with 68 signatures has been filed asking to lower the speed limit on Twelve O'Clock Knob Road.
Jenny Henderson, who has lived on a farm on Twelve O'Clock Knob Road since 1959, said many trucks use the road as a short cut from U.S. 221 to Salem.
"It's not so much the people who live here that speed, although some of us do," she said.
She said VDOT already has straightened several dangerous curves. But she'd like the speed limit to be set at 35 mph for the 41/2 miles between Salem and the mountaintop that gives the road its name. There are 175 houses along that stretch, she said.
Both Henderson and Ferguson like the idea of county officials - particularly their supervisors, who are elected officials - getting involved in their speed limit requests.
"At least then people would have someone they could go complain to," Ferguson said.
LENGTH: Long : 103 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: NHAT MEYER/Staff. The southern portion of Bandy Road isby CNBunposted and allows vehicles to legally travel 55 mph. 2. Roscoe
Martin would be more than happy to have those 25 mph speed limit
signs down at his end of Bandy Road. color. Graphic: Map by staff.
color.