Pinehurst Council to Look at Residential Speed Limits
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The Pinehurst Village Council will take a hard look at creating a uniform speed limit on residential streets in the village.
Following a discussion during Tuesday’s work session, the council asked Police Chief Earl Phipps to gather more information for consideration at the council’s July 24 meeting.
“My goal is to make sure they have the best information so they can make the best decision,” Phipps said.
Phipps said Thursday he would recommend that the uniform limit be 25 mph. He said he would include a timeline for the feasibility of implementing a uniform speed limit villagewide.
Some of the considerations that must be reviewed in that timeline are a change in signage and how to inform or educate the public about the possible changes, Phipps said.
“This is something that just can happen overnight,” he said.
During a presentation to council Tuesday, Phipps said that as he regularly drives around the village, he has discovered some areas where the speed limits are a concern.
“There are some ares where you can’t reach the speed limit safely,” Phipps said.
After the meeting, he said that many of those areas are on streets around Lake Pinehurst.
During Tuesday’s meeting, residents also spoke about their safety concerns on streets such as St. Andrews, Diamondhead and Burning Tree, among others.
Francine Smarrelli, who lives on St. Andrews Drive, said the speeding traffic near her home is “ridiculous.”
“I’m afraid it (speeding) is going to cause a tragedy,” she said.
Resident Tom Race said the mailbox at his home on Diamondhead Drive has been struck twice by speeders. “And if they can hit a mailbox, they can hit a pedestrian,” he said.
Phipps called the input from all the residents who spoke valuable.
“It was good to see that some of the places I saw as issues, the residents saw as issues too,” Phipps said.
Currently, speed limits on roads in the village range from 20 mph to 55 mph. A majority of the limits are either 25 mph or 35 mph.
The higher speed limits are more predominant on the west side of Beulah Hill Road (N.C. 5). The speed limit in Old Town was lowered to 25 mph in 2008 after the village gathered input from residents living there.
“We need to have consistency in the speed limits throughout the village,” resident Brian Deaton said.
When asked by the council why there were variances in speed limits on village streets in various neighborhoods, Village Manager Andy Wilkison said there are two primary factors: annexation into the village and petitions by residents to have the limits lowered.
Wilkison said that at the end of the day, setting or changing speed limits on any village streets is up to the council.
The council was receptive to the idea of creating a uniform limit.
“I don’t have a problem with a majority of the speed limits,” council member John Cashion said. “But I am not sure that any need to be raised.”
Mark Parson, who has complained that the village has too many signs, asked if the uniform limit could be a way to eliminate an excess of speed limit signs in the village.
Resident Pat Corso, who is an avid cyclist, said the issue is broader than just speed.
“The is no place for bikers or pedestrians to go,” he said. “There is no bailout.”
He proposed the village consider adding shoulders to certain roads to provide room for cyclists and pedestrians.
Phipps presented numbers that his department collected through the placement of the portable trailer that tracks speed. According to data collected, 85 percent of the drivers in the village are within five miles per hour over the posted limit.
Contact Tom Embrey at (910) 693-2484 or by email at tembrey@thepilot.com.
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Comments
tarheelborn 10 months, 2 weeks ago
The best example I can give is "if you don't want to get killed or seriously hurt, don't be stupid enough to ride a (non powered) bicycle on a highway"! Look at what just happened to the N.C.State director of Mental Health! In talking about (((Mental Health))), the man had ALREADY been Hit only a few months BEFORE he got killed! Stupid! Stay off the highways! ! ! Then the poor guy driving the truck is NOW BEING CHARGED! The truck driver stated he moved to the left as far as possible without causing collateral damage involving several other cars to his left and could not avoid striking the stupid man thinking HE HAS THE ROAD all to himself! Stay the H_ _ _ off the ROAD with anything other than a MOTOR VEHICLE! ""MOTOR"" is the KEY word here people!
As for a "Uniform Speed Limit"? This is another Stupid Crazy Idea! But not from a LAW ENFORCEMENT Standpoint..... Think about it, MORE TRAFFIC TICKETS! It's NOT and SELDOM about Public Safety folks, it's about MORE MONEY for the System! If there are a couple people concerned about the speed limit near their home, lower it there and THERE ONLY! Not the whole Town for Christ Sake!
Come on John Cashion, John Strickland, Doug Lapins, and Nancy Fiorillo, forget about Mark Parsons stupid NO SIGNS STATEMENT, and a Police Officer that all they live for is writing tickets to take people to court and inconvenience their lives with time lost from work, MONEY being paid to Lawyers, Money being paid the the COURTS, and it goes on and on and on ! Leave it alone like it is!
oldtimer 10 months, 2 weeks ago
Whoops!! Looks like tarheelborn got up too early this morning and forgot to take his meds.
Tbucket 10 months, 2 weeks ago
What is scary to me is politicians setting speed limits. If everyone would just drive the number that is posted the problem would go away. A reasonable speed limit should result in 85% or more of the motorists voluntarily complying with it. An unreasonable, politically set speed limit, will result in substantially less voluntary compliance. And while we are at it, let's get the politicians to do away with the no tickets unless you are 9+ over the posted. Let's also get the politicians to force the courts (I know,that's an oxymoronic statement) to stop converting moving violations into non-moving violations or worse yet PJC's (Prayer for judgement continued). Being successful at that would produce a better result than some phony speed limit set by a group of politicians. Nuff' said.
beaware2 10 months, 2 weeks ago
When speed limits drop from 35 to 25 most drivers view that as unreasonably slow. 25mph is much too slow on the No. 6 roads for example and most drivers do not adhere to the speed limit. 30mph on many roadways in Pinehurst would be reasonable.
TooHot 10 months, 2 weeks ago
25 mph thru Pinehurst? What - and more billboards for the cops to hide behind? In all the places I've ever lived Pinehurst, by far, is the most exuberant about catching their citizens. And don't give me this crapola about 'just obey the law and you won't have any problems'. It's a joke here.
phstresident 10 months, 2 weeks ago
I agree totally with beaware2 and that's what I would suggest as well. Change everything to 30mph as 25 is too slow and 35 in places is too fast. 30 is perfect....
doughnuts 10 months, 2 weeks ago
Slow down the speed limit to 25 mph and add random stop signs.
MikeNC 10 months, 2 weeks ago
TooHot 31 minutes ago... And don't give me this crapola about 'just obey the law and you won't have any problems'.
I was going to say something, Ahhhh...Never mind...Mike
Courseaire 10 months, 2 weeks ago
Set it at 25 mph with a grace speed limit of 30 mph. If ya get caught going over 30 mph, then you have a problem
herecomesthescience 10 months, 1 week ago
Once again the village thinks this is a gated community full of retirees only, terrified of any car going 35mph. 25mph is moronic, way too slow for main surface streets that people need to use to get to work, ect. I could see 30, but 25 is unreasonable. This is once again the Village Counsel gestapo trying to over regulate every traffic action it can. What a waste of time. But of course, it means more tickets, so they love it. Now watch the PD "traffic enforcement" squad get bigger and bigger. Ugh. It is sad, but another reason for me to avoid the shops and restaurants in the village where I live. Much less hassle and harassment to just hop on 15-501 and go to Southern Pines. I love the businesses in Pinehurst, but having to drive around like you are on a parade route for any simple errand or task is just pathetic. The Council is hell bent on locking our town into a ultra slow pace environment that is just not friendly to people who actually work for a living and need to get around for reasons other than tee times and lunch with the other old ladies. Couple that with the possibility of even less parking in the village, and it adds more reasons not to visit the businesses in the village. The Council and the business owners better hope the resort does well, because pretty soon the only customers they will have is tourists strolling down from the Carolina.
skylinefirepest 10 months, 1 week ago
I've been close to the NCSHP for over twenty years now and the guys have told me that the comfortable limit is what most of the people will drive, regardless of posted limits. Pinehurst and Whispering Pines have been havens for young cops with guns and have had that reputation for many years. As for the mailboxes getting hit? They are too close to the pavement especially if you are meeting traffic that's crowding the center. Do you really want a golf town that lives off tourists to start working over the golfers that you depend on to survive?? Doesn't matter to me...since I've retired I only go through Pinehurst on my way to somewhere else!
Courseaire 10 months, 1 week ago
Most small towns I've driven thru (Pinehurst is a small town) set their speed limit at 25 mph. However, most of those small towns also tack on an additional $200 fine if caught.
Courseaire 10 months, 1 week ago
Let's say the town of Pinehurst is 1 mile across, To get from one end of town to the other at 25 mph will take you 2.4 minutes, at 35 mph, it will take you 1.7 minutes. I'm sure losing that .7 minutes (or 42 sec) will really ruin your day.
FightFireWithFire 10 months, 1 week ago
How about we start by ENFORCING the speed limits already in place? We don't need to lower the limits, we need to ENFORCE them. I ask you, how often do you think someone is written a speeding ticket on Longleaf Dr SW? Not too often, compared to the number of people exceeding the speed limit through there. The large majority of violators are the residents themselves. The rest are people "passing through" to avoid the police on the main roads. If you give me 5 days, I will be willing to bet I can cut down on the speeding through most neighborhoods. Stop people from using them for cut-throughs and you will stop alot of the other nonsense going along with it.
LBK 10 months, 1 week ago
I live on Burning Tree and just trying to get my mail is dangerous. 35 mph is way too fast for a residential area and it seems that most go over the limit. If you lower the speed limit to 25 they will probably do 30. I've even asked the cops to sit in my driveway.
JD 10 months, 1 week ago
30 is fine, but cyclist need their own lane. Or at least learn how to ride in a line. The cyclist on May St. holding up traffic because they ride shoulder to shoulder is just ignorant on their part and disrespectful to motorists.
alladat1 10 months, 1 week ago
Tarheelborn - What does Christ have to do with this ?????
cantstandya 10 months, 1 week ago
Avoiding Pinehurst area and especially right around Carolina Eye would be advisable,for years that has been the money maker,and as far as Whispering Pines that I would avoid at all cost,most natives know where these areas are anymore,actually most law enforcement im Whispering Pines are those who have had no success at getting on anywhere else,Pinehurst officers have that attitude that they too are someone special,being on the force that protects the rich and famous,Southern Pines on the other hand has a real police department,fighting crime,and taking care of real police duties,very few accidents and never really mess with you unless you are deserving.
Toda 10 months, 1 week ago
Perhaps a loop around Pinehurst is in order so residents living in the inner loop can ride bicycles and othesr their golf carts. I think that is what this is all about....
MikeNC 10 months, 1 week ago
Courseaire 1 day, 1 hour ago ...Let's say the town of Pinehurst is 1 mile across, To get from one end of town to the other at 25 mph will take you 2.4 minutes, at 35 mph, it will take you 1.7 minutes. I'm sure losing that .7 minutes (or 42 sec) will really ruin your day.
Now that is an excellent point!!
....And for the bike riders who take up most of a road perfectly aware of what they are doing....
train horn by sykal
ncsnafu1 10 months, 1 week ago
The council stated its intention to also pursue a 25 mph limit on selected state highways in the village such as Linden Road. Anyone care to guess what a 25 mph limit on Rt. 211, say from its intersection with Rt. 5 to the traffic circle, would look like? Not surprisingly, not a single word was stated about the negative image Pinehurst will receive from a 25 mph limit.
CNMT 10 months, 1 week ago
I think we need to work on enforcing the speed limits that are already in place. I have watched school buses, UPS trucks and FEDEX trucks drive down my street at well over the 25 mph limit. While there are some areas that 25 mph might be inappropriate, I think it is appropriate in any residential area that is well developed. We have children playing, parents walking babies in strollers and bicyclists who deserve to be safe. I think we need to select our speed limits based on population density - those streets with houses few and far between could have slightly higher speed limits while those with a lot of houses close together could have the slower speed limit.
AM910 10 months, 1 week ago
How about getting people to read the signs and follow the posted limit, not 15 miles below it (why I hope 211 is getting four lanes!)