||| FROM JOHN ERLY |||
I wonder what the cost would be for two (2) solar operated speed signs. The kind that tells the driver how fast they are going. Should this be a county funded or private funded project?
There is about a five block area, from Mt. Baker Road, to School Road in Eastsound, where there are two Churches, a Senior Center, three Schools, a Teen Center and an OPAL housing project, that has numerous children that need to cross the road. I cannot think of any other place on Orcas that has a like area.
The posted speed is twenty-five miles per hour as you leave the Village (going North), on North Beach Road, just before OPAL. There are no posted speed limit signs, from Mt. Baker, before all the hazards areas. I can assure you that cars and motorcycles go well over forty miles per hour, or more.
I realize that the Sheriff does not have the resources to monitor this small part of Orcas roadway, 24/7. There is always a chance that solar signs might slow folks down.
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Flashing electronic speed monitoring signs? On Orcas? If you want to live in that sort of world, the mainland beckons.
Been here 50 yrs, don’t think I will be moving. Have spent a lot of money repairing fence. Helped many speeders out of ditch.
While I am sympathetic to the cause of limiting light pollution and maintaining a rural atmosphere on Orcas, I completely agree with John Erly that it makes good sense to try and remind people that that stretch of road in question has many people walking along and across it. A couple of those annoying signs that indicates your speed as you approach really might help. Other places have them in school zones and they seem to work well.
What about it Justin Paulson? Call up the road department and make it happen BEFORE there is a tragedy. Millions of dollars are being spent on a giant culvert for non-existent fish on Killebrew Lake Rd, surely we can afford a couple of signs on North Beach Rd to help keep our children safer?