County commission signs ordinance reducing speed limits on County Road 205, Singing Hills Drive

For years law enforcement, county officials and residents of County Road 205 and Singing Hills Drive have said motorists speeding on the two roads have caused a threat to safety.

While signs displaying speed limits lower than 60 mph were posted along the roadways, law enforcement was unable to enforce speeding unless vehicles surpassed 60 mph.

But that changed Thursday morning when the Cape Girardeau County Commission signed an ordinance lowering the speed limit on both roads. The speed limit is now 35 mph on County Road 205, also known as Bloomfield Road, between Benton Hill Road and Highway 74 and 25 mph on Singing Hills Drive. All county roads have a default speed limit of 60 mph unless a commission approves a reduction.

"It's mainly been a safety issue and gives law enforcement a reason to pull people over," said Jon Kasten, a commissioner with Cape Special Road District, the entity that maintains both roadways. "This was the right time.

"Bloomfield Road in particular has been of one of the worst roadways for years," Kasten said. "Now, we can move forward and hopefully do the same thing at other roads in the county."

Kasten was one of 19 people in attendance Thursday for the final public hearing on the issue. Two other public hearings held earlier in the week, the passage of the ordinance and posting of speed limit signs on the roadways were required before the speed limits were officially reduced.

Kasten said the ordinance will allow for enforcement of speeding tickets, which hadn't been possible in the past. In 2003 a driver who was issued a ticket on County Road 205 and his attorney had planned to argue the county could not establish speed limits since the commission did not set a speed limit ordinance when it was designated a first-class county in 1997. But before the driver had his day in court the case was dismissed in 2004.

Past studies have found that County Road 205 is prone to its share of speeding and accidents. In 2009 the city of Cape Girardeau reported that from Oct. 6 to 19, the average speed was about 50 mph on the roadway, and from Jan. 1, 2004, to Dec. 31, 2008, the Missouri State Highway Patrol found that 75 accidents occurred on County Road 205.

County officials are unaware of any studies for Singing Hills Drive.

Cape Girardeau County 1st District Commissioner Paul Koeper said the commission will continue studying ways to improve safety on other roads.

"Cape Girardeau County Commission and Cape Special Road District agree that as more roads receive a hard surface, vehicles will travel at a faster speed," Koeper said. "Both entities are committed to continue to provide hard-surfaced roads and improve safety through setting speed limits, improving sight distance, extending culverts and increasing signage as needed.

"This is a good step forward," Koeper said. "One of my goals is to make safety an issue."

bblackwell@semissourian.com

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