Looking south Thursday past one of the new speed limit signs on Scenic Drive in North Albany.
If you’ve driven (or ridden a bike) on Scenic Drive in North Albany lately, you’ve seen the new 45 mph speed signs. They’ve been up a couple of weeks.
It was back in February that Benton County got approval from the Oregon Department of Transportation to post the first-ever speed limit on this mostly rural road from Oak Grove Drive north to Spring Hill Drive, a distance of about 2.3 miles.
I had been wondering about the long delay in putting up the signs.
Earlier this month, Benton County Engineer Laurel Byer explained:
“We are short staffed and when it is sunny, the road crew focuses on the projects that have to happen when it is dry, for instance spraying, paving, and striping. Our sign foreman has assured me that the new speed limit signs will be installed by the end of October.”
And that’s what happened. The signs were up well before the end of this month.
Before this change, there was no posted speed limit on this stretch of Scenic. Instead, the basic rule applied, which basically meant that you could drive as fast as was safe.
But in the last 30-some years, residential subdivisions have sprung up on the eastern or city side of Scenic north of Gibson Hill. More people now are walking on that side of the road, with and without dogs. And there are side streets.
So it made sense to continue the 45 limit that prevails on much of Gibson Hill. Now, for long-time drivers on Scenic, including me, it’s just a matter of getting used to observing the signs. (hh)
I hope that the new signs have an effect. Having lived on Scenic Drive since 1963 I have seen in change from a quiet lightly used market road to a two lane speedway. I jokingly tell visitors that when we moved here you could sit on a folding chair in the front yard on a Sunday morning, have a cup of coffee or two and watch all of the car (no “s” on purpose) go by. One year we watched the Air Force Thunderbirds perform over what is now Adair Village.
The last few years it has become quite common place to see cars exceeding 60 mph, racing and unsafe passing.
Please folks, please slow down, and leave a few minutes earlier so speeding is not necessary.