Pinehurst to Study Lowering of Speed Limits

A truck travels along McKenzie Road West toward N.C. 5 in Pinehurst. The village is considering lowering the speed limit to 25 mph on neighborhood roads in that area. Photo by Glenn Sides.

By Tom Embrey

As of Friday, February 15, 2013

Speed limits in some Pinehurst neighborhoods could be lowered soon.

Pinehurst Police Chief Earl Phipps has presented a proposal to the Village Council that would lower the speed limit from 35 to 25 in neighborhoods near Lake Pinehurst, Donald Ross Drive and Monticello Road.

The changes will mean that no residential street within the village has a limit higher than 25 mph.

Council members who heard Phipps’ proposal Tuesday night said they likely will consider the plan later this spring.

“We are looking for endorsement from the Neighborhood Advisory Committee and then we will go through the speed limit changes,” said Mayor Nancy Fiorillo.

The meeting with the Neighborhood Advisory Committee will be held Monday. The council will consider the proposal at its Feb. 26 meeting.

Phipps told the council that the proposed changes will “cut some of the through traffic out of the neighborhoods.”

Council member Doug Lapins said he was concerned about dropping the limit on Monticello from 35 to 25. He argued that research he had found showed that reducing speed limits didn’t necessarily cause drivers to reduce speeds.

He said that lowering the limit on Monticello could create a “speed trap.”

“It is a poorly thought out and designed plan,” Lapins said.

At a meeting on July 24, the Village Council asked Phipps to provide them with more information after he made an initial recommendation of a uniform limit of 25 mph in the village.

During that meeting, Phipps told the council that there are some streets in the village where drivers “can’t reach the speed limit safely.”

He has said that if the limits are lowered, signage would need to be changed along with informing and educating the public.

Several residents spoke during the meeting last summer and expressed concern that speeding would result in tragedy.

Currently, speed limits on roads in the village range from 20 mph on some neighborhood streets to 45 mph on N.C. 211. A majority of the limits are either 25 or 35 mph. The 35 mph limits are in the neighborhoods on the west side of Beulah Hill Road (N.C. 5).

The speed limit in the historic village center was lowered to 25 mph in 2008 after the village gathered input from residents living there.

At both meetings, Phipps presented data collected by his department that indicated that 85 percent of drivers in the village are within five miles per hour over the post limit.

In other news from Tuesday’s meeting, the council voted unanimously to pass a resolution asking the state Department of Transportation to do a corridor study of N.C. 211, including the Traffic Circle.

Village manager Andy Wilkison told the council that the DOT had told him that they have money to fund the study and would do so if the council asks.

Road crews are in the process of widening N.C. 211 from N.C. 73 to the large Traffic Circle in Pinehurst. No alterations to the current Traffic Circle are planned as part of the current work. Some people, including members of council, have questioned how the extra lanes of traffic would impact the Traffic Circle.

Contact Tom Embrey at (910) 693-2484 or tembrey @thepilot.com.

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tarheelborn 3 months, 1 week ago

This is so crazy! All they want to do is generate MORE REVENUE for the SYSTEM! PLUS make your Insurance Premiums Escalate..

If they are REALLY concerned about public safety, tell these nuts, (Segway company owner dies riding two-wheeled machine off cliff), Bicycle's, Joggers and the such to stay off the roadway unless they are commuting in an "ENCLOSED MOTORIZED VEHICLE"(with safety belts)! ! ! !

The Speed Limits need to be left alone in Pinehurst.....

herecomesthescience 3 months, 1 week ago

More moronic thinking from the Pinehurst Council and PD. I would bet heavily that this is based on a handful of older complainers who were frightened by cars going the legal limit while walking their dog. This is 100% speedtrap thinking, and the notorious PD can't wait to trap more drivers and line their coffers. Notice that this is not an issue in any other municipality in the area, Pinehurst just adores doing this kind of thing. As far as the new chief goes, I was excited to see new blood in the PD, hoping that the traffic obsession and harassment would ease up, but when it comes to Phipps looks like it's "meet the new boss, same as the old boss". Pinehurst is having a really hard time accepting that the demographic is shifting slowly towards a younger working populace, and they are doing everything they can to pacify the existing elderly contingent. The council and PD will not rest until they model the entire village after a gated golf cart only Florida retirement complex. Really embarrassing in general.

herecomesthescience 3 months, 1 week ago

I love the idea of “cut some of the through traffic out of the neighborhoods.”, really?? the reason people cut through on Monticello is because the traffic on Hwy. 5 is awful. No matter what the speed folks will still cut through. They dropped the limit to 25mph in Village Acres, and just about every resident of #6 cuts through to avoid the circle when they head to the Village or to 211. Remember, it is more important to the mayor and the other relics on the council (except for Lapins who seems to have his head on straight on this matter) for the retirees to get to their tee times and ladies luncheons in a leisurely relaxed fashion than for working people to move on our roads effectively. These are roads that are designed to travel at 35 or 45 mph, and it has never been a problem in the last 40 years that I have seen. Pilot, how about doing some actual reporting and find out what the accident reports are for these neighborhood roads, and see if there is ANY safety related reason to drop these limits. I doubt the council or PD will worry about such facts. As always a wealthy old complaining resident is enough to enact policy, forget about facts or need of the rest of the public.
It is a shame because we have some good people on the force, but they are put to work looking for every driver, rather than patrolling our neighborhoods looking for real crime. I cringe of the thought of an officer on the side of the road ticketing a driver for going 5mph over the limit, while a guy climbs into my back window and robs me blind.

doughnuts 3 months, 1 week ago

The Village of Pinehurst Police Chief Earl Phipps is a doing a wonderful service for the community by lowering the speed limit to 25 MPH. There should be an implementation of speed bumps and more more stop signs along all Village of Pinehurst roadways. The Village of Pinehurst Police Chief Earl Pipps is listening to the residents and doing something about it! Maybe this will slow down those pinehurst resort vehicles, UPS, FedEx, and other cut through vehicles?

buddysmith 3 months, 1 week ago

as long as the discussion is about the village roads, how about banning motorcycles with straight exhaust pipes? I can see tiger, putting on the 4th green next year, as the same time buster throttles up his 1979 harley( with straight exhausts) leaving the traffic circle. i live here and am more irritated by the noise from the motorcycles than the speed limits!

mymindwanders 3 months, 1 week ago

Need some crackers with that wine. Boohoo...

Toda 3 months, 1 week ago

Time to consider building that moat around the kingdom with draw bridges and armor clad guards. Radar units will be used on any property outside the kingdom proper. Anyone driving more than .1 of a mile over the speed limit receives a trap slap for a few hundred.

NCgolfer 3 months, 1 week ago

25 mph is a reasonable speed for the Village streets. There are a lot of older people in and around Pinehurst. If you're looking for a faster lifestyle Fayettville is only 35 miles West.

FightFireWithFire 3 months, 1 week ago

People constantly complain now about the "speed traps". Cops aren't enforcing the speeds in the neighborhoods. So what makes them think lowering the limit will make a difference. ENFORCEMENT makes the difference. Too many people use Longleaf Drive and Gun Club Drive as cut throughs and rarely do they observe the 25 MPH limit. Most of the residents come roaring up behind me when I drive through, because I am doing the speed limit and apparently I am "holding them up" from getting wherever they just need to be right now. People in this town are ridiculous. I say all of us get together and put an end to the people using our roads as cut-throughs the way they did on Short Road. There are "do not enter" signs at the "entrance" to their little neighborhood, why can't we do that in ours? Oh, that's right, we're just a bunch of full time middle class residents. We aren't rich people who only live here "part time" on Midland Road.....

RoscoeRules 3 months, 1 week ago

85% of the drivers are within the posted speed limit! Why punish those of us who obey the speed limit? Give tickets to those who are not obeying the speed limit! Leave the rest of us law abiding citizens alone and leave the speed limits where they are at! If you speed you need a ticket and all the cost associtated with getting one.

theoldguy 3 months, 1 week ago

Agreed with FFWF I have seen cars blast up Longleaf Drive WELL over the limit....and no one does a thing about it....PPD could sit in my driveway and make their monthly quota in about an hour

herecomesthescience 3 months, 1 week ago

Hey ncgolfer, a lot of old people does not mean ALL old people, I am from here, not a retiree who rode in late in the game and is trying to mold the area to my tastes. If YOU want a slower geriatric pace, Celebration, Florida is about 400 miles south, I suggest you move there. Or try any of our fantastic old folks homes, those wheelchairs move pretty slowly, it should be a lot less frightening for you than the insane rocket like speed of going 35 mph on a public street.

greatbrit 3 months, 1 week ago

As an implant to the area, it's nice to compare this attitude to other States I have lived where the Road Safety people sometimes found it was a safer option to RAISE the speed limit presumably (my thoughts as a former road designer) as it allowed the traffic to flow at the design speed of the road. This meant that all those drivers who won't exceed the posted speed limit (quite rightly) are no longer causing a danger as an overtaking hazard to more impatient drivers and does away with "tailgating". BTW has anyone tried keeping to 25 past the blighted townhouse site - you have to ride your brakes ALL of the way down the hill!

djcalaska 3 months, 1 week ago

Can we say speed traps? Is there really a problem?

theunit 3 months, 1 week ago

As someone in the professional, I am usually against lowering speed limits. It's mostly for show and politics. Honestly, it is nearly impossible to drive 25 miles per hour for any period of time unless traffic volumes make you do so. Not a good idea. But some leaders feel if they are not doing something they are not leading. Sometimes leading is leaving well enough alone. The unit