Limit applies where no signs are posted
The Town of Columbus has adopted a town-wide speed limit of 25 miles per hour unless otherwise posted.
No speed limits will change, but unmarked town-owned streets will now have a 25-miles-per-hour limit.
Columbus Police Officer Nick Stott told Columbus Town Council Thursday, July 21 the department is requesting that the town speed limit be posted at town entrances, because many streets do not currently have a posted speed limit.
Stott also said because of safety concerns, the department wants the section of Mills Street between Blanton and Park streets to have a speed limit of 25 mph to match the stretch from downtown to the roundabouts. The state would have to approve that request.
The new 25-mile-per-hour regulation will go into effect once the N.C. Department of Transportation approves the request and sends the town the signs.
Stott said the town-wide speed limit would eliminate problems arising from town-owned roads that do not have a posted speed limit sign, such as Beechwood, Simms, Park, Constance, Ward, Julia, White and Holly Hill roads, as well as others. Stott said it’s hard to enforce speed limits when there is no sign and placing a few town-wide speed limit signs will be a lot cheaper than posting a speed limit sign on every road.
“This is not a speeding ticket campaign,” Stott told council.
He said having lower speed limits, such as changing the speed limit through downtown Columbus and through the commercial interstate corridor to the roundabouts from 35 to 25 miles per hour, keeps people under 40 miles per hour and there is nowhere in Columbus it is safe to drive faster than 40 miles per hour.
On the subject of the police department wanting to reduce the speed limit between Blanton and Park streets from 35 mph to 25 mph, Stott said he recently clocked a vehicle going 53 mph in that area, which is not safe, he said.
Stott said the police department is concerned about the area because vehicles crest the hill at fast speeds and pedestrians, especially children, frequently cross the street to go to the ice cream shop.
Columbus Town Manager Jonathan Kanipe said the town-wide speed limit signs should arrive in Columbus from the state in no more than three months.