Blog

Holmes County, just outside of Columbus, has an odd issue. After they repaved several roads, cars are much less safer. This is because drivers feel more confident driving faster on the smoother road surfaces. Now Holmes County wants to request that the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) lower the speed limits on these roads in hopes that people will drive slower on the roads. Deputy Engineer Cory Baker leads the investigation. He wants to campaign for the ODOT, but first they need to administer a safety report. Then they can campaign for ODOT to lower the speed limits. After all of this, will it even make the roads safer? With no evidence of increased traffic incidents, why would they even want to lower the speed limits?

If one would like to lower the speed limits on a particular road, the first step is to get a safety report. The county trusted Mastermind Traffic Safety and Software Services out of Dublin, Ohio to handle the report. They will oversee county roads 407, 200, and 189. Currently, these roads have various speed limits. The common thread is that if there are no signs, the speed limit is 55mph. The safety report will look at all the variables such as intersections, businesses, terrain of the road, turns, and roadway conditions. This, on top of the volume of cars and types of vehicles that use the road, creates the safety report.

Speed Limits Safety Report

The report is in and Mastermind Taffic Safety and Software Services deduct and concur with Baker and the rest of Holmes County. that the speed limit should be reduced to 45 mph. The only problem is that, to the untrained eye, the current roads don’t seem to have a problem with the speed limits. Traffic accidents are no higher now than they’ve ever been. The real question is, why do they want to do this now? The answer may not be what you think.

Residential developments are in the works surrounding these roads. As the community grows, the city needs to monitor these speed limits. Rather than wait for them to build the new homes and cross that bridge when they get there, they chose to lower the speed limits now. This can make it safer for construction personnel around the area while they construct the new communities. Then, of course, once people move into the newly developed land, drivers will already be familiar with slowing down near the new residential neighborhoods.

The safety report is in and all that’s left is approval from ODOT. Baker and the county have no plans to include anything that the safety report does not immediately include. The city officials typically agree with safety reports, and if all goes according to plan, they should get their approval in a couple of weeks. As soon as they have approval, they will erect the new signage and alert the community of the new posted speed limits.