Public hearings set on establishing speed limit on Bloomfield Road, Singing Hills Drive

The Cape Girardeau County Commission has scheduled three public hearings to consider reducing the speed limit on two roads known for frequent speeding vehicles.

During its meeting Monday the commission approved hearings at 6 p.m. on March 15 inside the commission chambers, the second one at 10 a.m. on March 16 at the Cape Special Road District office and the final hearing at 10 a.m. on March 18 inside the commission chambers.

If the commission approves the ordinance, the speed limit would be reduced to 35 mph on County Road 205 between Benton Hill Road and Highway 74 and 25 mph on Singing Hills Drive. Both roads are maintained by the Cape Special Road District.

The public hearings and passage of the ordinance are required before lowering the speed limit from 60 mph. All county roads have that default speed limit, unless a commission approves a reduction in the speed limit.

The commissioners said the ordinance would reduce speeding and accidents while allowing for the enforcement of the 25 and 35 mph speed limits. While signs displaying the speed limit already are posted along the roadways, law enforcement is unable to enforce speeding under 60 mph.

Speeding tickets issued for less than 60 mph on both roadways are thrown out of court, said First District Commissioner Paul Koeper.

Such an incident occurred in 2003, when a Cape Girardeau driver contested a speeding ticket received while traveling on County Road 205, also known as Bloomfield Road. The driver's attorney had planned to argue that Cape Girardeau County did not have authority to set speed limits because the commission never instituted a new speed limit ordinance after it was designated a first-class county in 1997. But a court never ruled on the issue because the speeding charge was dismissed in 2004.

"When pavement goes from gravel to paved or when it gets wet especially, people go faster," said First District Commissioner Paul Koeper. "It's pretty important that this ordinance passes and we keep these speed limits down."

While Koeper was unaware of any studies on speeding or accidents of Singing Hills Drive, he mentioned during the commission's Feb. 18 meeting a study the City of Cape Girardeau conducted on County Road 205 traffic flow from Oct. 6 to 19, 2009. In that study, city engineer Kelly Green found that in the westbound lane most drivers were traveling 50.38 mph while those in the eastbound lane were driving 48.9 mph.

A Missouri State Highway Patrol study of accidents between Jan. 1, 2004, and Dec. 31, 2008, found that 75 accidents occurred on the road.

Charles Brawley of 2514 Singing Hills Drive said that he has tried to convince county and city officials to lower the speed limit on his road for six to eight years. Brawley said he wonders why it has taken years to address the issue.

While he is not a law enforcement member, Brawley and Joseph Hann of 2544 Singing Hills Drive frequently stop speeding motorists to alert them of what he calls a serious danger.

"We're now stopping the cars and pulling our vehicles across the road and begging them to slow down or follow them to residences and ask them in a nice way to slow down, which is putting our lives in jeopardy," said Brawley, a former Cape Girardeau Fire Department captain.

Second District Commissioner Jay Purcell said he owns a piece of property on Singing Hills Drive and understands the need for reducing speeding on the straight, half-mile, paved roadway.

"If there was ever a street made for drag racing, it was this one," Purcell said. "So he does have some legitimate concern. There [are] a lot of kids out there. It would be a good discussion to have."

Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones encouraged Brawley and other supporters of the ordinance to attend the public hearings.

"I challenge you to get your friends and supporters to these hearings because we want to hear people who are in favor of it," Jones said. "You know the people in favor of things never show up.

"They just don't show up, I'm telling you that's a fact," he said. "Those that's against something will by-damn be there."

bblackwell@semissourian.com

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