Measures to slow down speeders in Madison County’s Twin Harbor neighborhood will be taken after a petition was filed with the county.
Resident Daniel Prince lives along Trace Harbor Road where the majority of signatures came from and where the speeding issue is taking place.
“The rate of speed that people travel down Trace Harbor is insane,” Prince said. “I’ve witnessed cars on several occasions going in excess of 40 mph with a street full of children out and about. The main perpetrators are full grown adults around 6 p.m. and boat ramp traffic.”
Prince said the residents reached out to Supervisor Sheila Jones after having no success trying to solve the issue with Pearl River Valley as the neighborhood is located along the reservoir.
“Ms. Sheila Jones was extremely helpful and responded promptly on the issue when she was made aware,” Prince said. “The residents have tried for years with Pearl River Valley to get something done to no avail.”
Prince circulated the petition around the neighborhood to submit to the county for speed humps between 100 and 336 Trace Harbor Road to be installed and suggested additional traffic calming measures, such as stop signs. The petition received over 60 signatures.
“After my son had almost been run over one time too many, I decided to take action,” Prince said. “With many residents’ help, we’ve gotten together and made our voices heard. We were able to get far above the 75 percent threshold for the county to take action. My hope is they will put speed humps throughout the street. These humps could very well save a young life. One misstep or chased ball could result in tragedy and ruin a family’s lives.”
Jones brought the complaints of speeding to the attention of the board in April 4’s meeting and the petition was acknowledged. The following week, the Reservoir Police Chief Trevell Dixon went to the neighborhood to observe the speeding during 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. and told the board on April 18 that there was a “slight speeding issue” during that time.
“Once they are coming off of Old Canton Road, they are gunning it,” Dixon said.
Dixon agreed speed humps or stop signs would help the issue as they don’t have the equipment to radar.
County Engineer Tim Bryan said they have accepted the petition and are following the policy for speed humps.
“I looked at the street and am currently putting a plan together to present back to the neighborhood to see if this is what they want to do,” Bryan said. “We are following our procedure and moving forward with it.”
