River Road speed limit change to 35 mph

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't go anywhere near River Road usually so I have no idea where the change is taking place. but here are just my impression of limits and driver behaviour. The only deterrence of reckless speeding is the actual precense of enforcement mechanisms rather than speed limit signage. Tickets are being issues doesn't mean people are slowing down. IMO, the best deterrence is just placing a blatant camera on that stretch near the school.

Now that the speed is lowered to 35, they are able to set cameras. I bet cameras are coming!

+1

There's a lot of jackasses taking their sports cars on River Road late at night and early mornings on the weekend. My retired FIL blasts his Porsche on that stretch of road. The change is direly needed.

I'd be ok with cameras, but the speed limit really should be 45 given the road. The accidents have been when people have been grossly speeding, in one case over 100 mph. This change won't stop that; it just gives cops an excuse to ticket people who are driving in a perfectly safe manner.

River Road is a residential street. People's driveways empty out directly onto the road. Further, it's impossible for those residents exit their driveways to see speeding cars coming around the turns.

I'm fine with 35 mph and ticket cameras. Idiots won't change their ways until the fines accumulate.

It is not a residential street and no driveways directly abut River Road. There are service roads off River Road that, in at least one are, have a couple of houses on it that is unfortunately also just called River Road. But that already has 25 mph limit and is totally different than the main river road we are all talking about.

what are you talking about?
There are plenty of driveways that directly abut River Road in the mile or so before the DC line.

Please think before you post.

You should think. That is not the area the speed limit was changed. That area is a bit further north and does not have driveways right onto River Road, so the area you are thinking of is irrelvant to this discussion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:River Road is a residential street. People's driveways empty out directly onto the road. Further, it's impossible for those residents exit their driveways to see speeding cars coming around the turns.

I'm fine with 35 mph and ticket cameras. Idiots won't change their ways until the fines accumulate.

I have no problem with the new speed limit either, but this part of River Road is not a residential street. It's a divided highway. The 35 MPH speed limit is an over-reaction to the tragic deaths of the Whitman student and his parents two years ago. Understandable, but really, the 45 MPH speed limit wasn't unreasonable. The real problem is the crosswalks. They should build a pedestrian bridge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't go anywhere near River Road usually so I have no idea where the change is taking place. but here are just my impression of limits and driver behaviour. The only deterrence of reckless speeding is the actual precense of enforcement mechanisms rather than speed limit signage. Tickets are being issues doesn't mean people are slowing down. IMO, the best deterrence is just placing a blatant camera on that stretch near the school.

Now that the speed is lowered to 35, they are able to set cameras. I bet cameras are coming!

+1

There's a lot of jackasses taking their sports cars on River Road late at night and early mornings on the weekend. My retired FIL blasts his Porsche on that stretch of road. The change is direly needed.

I'd be ok with cameras, but the speed limit really should be 45 given the road. The accidents have been when people have been grossly speeding, in one case over 100 mph. This change won't stop that; it just gives cops an excuse to ticket people who are driving in a perfectly safe manner.

River Road is a residential street. People's driveways empty out directly onto the road. Further, it's impossible for those residents exit their driveways to see speeding cars coming around the turns.

I'm fine with 35 mph and ticket cameras. Idiots won't change their ways until the fines accumulate.

It is not a residential street and no driveways directly abut River Road. There are service roads off River Road that, in at least one are, have a couple of houses on it that is unfortunately also just called River Road. But that already has 25 mph limit and is totally different than the main river road we are all talking about.

what are you talking about?
There are plenty of driveways that directly abut River Road in the mile or so before the DC line.

Please think before you post.

Yes- the stretch between Little Falls and the DC line--but isn't that speed limit already 35? The stretch that is between the beltway and the Whole Foods shopping center is 45 and I don't believe any driveways directly come out on that road. That would be taking your life into your own hands!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't go anywhere near River Road usually so I have no idea where the change is taking place. but here are just my impression of limits and driver behaviour. The only deterrence of reckless speeding is the actual precense of enforcement mechanisms rather than speed limit signage. Tickets are being issues doesn't mean people are slowing down. IMO, the best deterrence is just placing a blatant camera on that stretch near the school.

Now that the speed is lowered to 35, they are able to set cameras. I bet cameras are coming!

+1

There's a lot of jackasses taking their sports cars on River Road late at night and early mornings on the weekend. My retired FIL blasts his Porsche on that stretch of road. The change is direly needed.

I'd be ok with cameras, but the speed limit really should be 45 given the road. The accidents have been when people have been grossly speeding, in one case over 100 mph. This change won't stop that; it just gives cops an excuse to ticket people who are driving in a perfectly safe manner.

River Road is a residential street. People's driveways empty out directly onto the road. Further, it's impossible for those residents exit their driveways to see speeding cars coming around the turns.

I'm fine with 35 mph and ticket cameras. Idiots won't change their ways until the fines accumulate.

It is not a residential street and no driveways directly abut River Road. There are service roads off River Road that, in at least one are, have a couple of houses on it that is unfortunately also just called River Road. But that already has 25 mph limit and is totally different than the main river road we are all talking about.

what are you talking about?
There are plenty of driveways that directly abut River Road in the mile or so before the DC line.

Please think before you post.

Yes- the stretch between Little Falls and the DC line--but isn't that speed limit already 35? The stretch that is between the beltway and the Whole Foods shopping center is 45 and I don't believe any driveways directly come out on that road. That would be taking your life into your own hands!

Correct.

[Anonymous]

This was entirely due to some neighbood retired busybodies, and not as a result of the thorough analysis SHA did.

SHA produced a report of over 200 pages basically saying the speed limit was fine. Then SHA had an open public forum to present some different ideas for the intersection on the hill near Whitman. None of them involved lowering the speed limit.

River Road was designed as an arterial connector road from an interstate. That's why it's a divided highway, with good visibility and no driveways or entrances directly onto it. There's a reason they built those service roads next to it for driveways to back onto.

There have been two fatal crasshes there in 30 years. One was 2 years ago with the family where the driver made a left turn and failed to yield. The car that hit him was going over 100mph. That driver is in jail. The other was nearly 30 years ago when 4 Whitman students were speeding and the driver was intoxicated, and lost control just after the light at Wilson Lane (going towards the Beltway) and smashed into a tree.

Lowering the speed limit to 35mph from 45mph would not have prevented either crash.

There is already a simple solution that the Whitman principal refuses to implement, and it's also a free solution: close the back gate entrance to Whitman during school hours. Then students driving to school will have to make a left at Wilson or Whittier, both of which are controlled (traffic light) intersections. Problem solved.

If they want to go one step further, add a HAWK signal (traffic light that only goes red when pedestrian pushes the walk button) at the crosswalk at the crest of the hill. A pedestrian bridge would be ideal, but history has shown pedestrians don't use them -- look at the pedestrian bridge where the CCT is by McDonalds just down that same road -- they still have an at-street-level crosswalk despite a pedestrian bridge directly over it, because pedestrians were too lazy to climb up to the bridge.

There's no need to lower the speed limit starting at the Beltway all the way in to DC. This is what happens when politicians get involved in road engineering decisions that should be left to career highway engineers.

[Anonymous]

It’s a stupid change as 45 isn’t even that fast.

[Anonymous]

Ugh.

[Anonymous]

Lame. If anything, speed limits on most major thoroughfares should be increased from the ones set when cars were 20-foot hunks of steel with shoe brakes and no seatbelts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:River Road is a residential street. People's driveways empty out directly onto the road. Further, it's impossible for those residents exit their driveways to see speeding cars coming around the turns.

I'm fine with 35 mph and ticket cameras. Idiots won't change their ways until the fines accumulate.

I have no problem with the new speed limit either, but this part of River Road is not a residential street. It's a divided highway. The 35 MPH speed limit is an over-reaction to the tragic deaths of the Whitman student and his parents two years ago. Understandable, but really, the 45 MPH speed limit wasn't unreasonable. The real problem is the crosswalks. They should build a pedestrian bridge.

If the speed limit is only reasonable if you remove the pedestrians, then the speed limit isn't reasonable.

Not to mention that a speed limit of 45 mph means that lots of people think it's just fine to go 57 mph. With a speed limit of 35 mph, they will go 47 mph - which is what you consider appropriate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This was entirely due to some neighbood retired busybodies, and not as a result of the thorough analysis SHA did.

SHA produced a report of over 200 pages basically saying the speed limit was fine. Then SHA had an open public forum to present some different ideas for the intersection on the hill near Whitman. None of them involved lowering the speed limit.

River Road was designed as an arterial connector road from an interstate. That's why it's a divided highway, with good visibility and no driveways or entrances directly onto it. There's a reason they built those service roads next to it for driveways to back onto.

There have been two fatal crasshes there in 30 years. One was 2 years ago with the family where the driver made a left turn and failed to yield. The car that hit him was going over 100mph. That driver is in jail. The other was nearly 30 years ago when 4 Whitman students were speeding and the driver was intoxicated, and lost control just after the light at Wilson Lane (going towards the Beltway) and smashed into a tree.

Lowering the speed limit to 35mph from 45mph would not have prevented either crash.

There is already a simple solution that the Whitman principal refuses to implement, and it's also a free solution: close the back gate entrance to Whitman during school hours. Then students driving to school will have to make a left at Wilson or Whittier, both of which are controlled (traffic light) intersections. Problem solved.

If they want to go one step further, add a HAWK signal (traffic light that only goes red when pedestrian pushes the walk button) at the crosswalk at the crest of the hill. A pedestrian bridge would be ideal, but history has shown pedestrians don't use them -- look at the pedestrian bridge where the CCT is by McDonalds just down that same road -- they still have an at-street-level crosswalk despite a pedestrian bridge directly over it, because pedestrians were too lazy to climb up to the bridge.

There's no need to lower the speed limit starting at the Beltway all the way in to DC. This is what happens when politicians get involved in road engineering decisions that should be left to career highway engineers.

There was another fatal accident in 2015 involving a pedestrian crossing near the Kenwood CC.

Closing the back gate during school hours wouldn't have had an impact on any of those accidents, and some of the concern is about pedestrians crossing the road, not cars.

I don't like the 35 speed limit at all - tried to drive that speed a couple of days ago and was passed by literally every car - all of whom were going at least 50.

[Anonymous]

Good. I hope the part now between Springfield and western that was already 35, is reduced from 25.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not to mention that a speed limit of 45 mph means that lots of people think it's just fine to go 57 mph. With a speed limit of 35 mph, they will go 47 mph - which is what you consider appropriate.

By that logic, the speed limit should now be negative 50. That way, the car that struck the Whitman family would have only been going 50, and those people would still be alive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not to mention that a speed limit of 45 mph means that lots of people think it's just fine to go 57 mph. With a speed limit of 35 mph, they will go 47 mph - which is what you consider appropriate.

By that logic, the speed limit should now be negative 50. That way, the car that struck the Whitman family would have only been going 50, and those people would still be alive.

How fast do you think people should drive on River Road, and why?

[Anonymous]

With no Amazon, MoCo needs the money!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This was entirely due to some neighbood retired busybodies, and not as a result of the thorough analysis SHA did.

SHA produced a report of over 200 pages basically saying the speed limit was fine. Then SHA had an open public forum to present some different ideas for the intersection on the hill near Whitman. None of them involved lowering the speed limit.

River Road was designed as an arterial connector road from an interstate. That's why it's a divided highway, with good visibility and no driveways or entrances directly onto it. There's a reason they built those service roads next to it for driveways to back onto.

There have been two fatal crasshes there in 30 years. One was 2 years ago with the family where the driver made a left turn and failed to yield. The car that hit him was going over 100mph. That driver is in jail. The other was nearly 30 years ago when 4 Whitman students were speeding and the driver was intoxicated, and lost control just after the light at Wilson Lane (going towards the Beltway) and smashed into a tree.

Lowering the speed limit to 35mph from 45mph would not have prevented either crash.

There is already a simple solution that the Whitman principal refuses to implement, and it's also a free solution: close the back gate entrance to Whitman during school hours. Then students driving to school will have to make a left at Wilson or Whittier, both of which are controlled (traffic light) intersections. Problem solved.

If they want to go one step further, add a HAWK signal (traffic light that only goes red when pedestrian pushes the walk button) at the crosswalk at the crest of the hill. A pedestrian bridge would be ideal, but history has shown pedestrians don't use them -- look at the pedestrian bridge where the CCT is by McDonalds just down that same road -- they still have an at-street-level crosswalk despite a pedestrian bridge directly over it, because pedestrians were too lazy to climb up to the bridge.

There's no need to lower the speed limit starting at the Beltway all the way in to DC. This is what happens when politicians get involved in road engineering decisions that should be left to career highway engineers.

pedestrians will avoid bridges because its added effort walking and longer - especially issues for elderly, disable, people with young children. and sometimes if no one else is using it, it feels unsafe vis a vis crime.

I see people wanting to remove peds (onto a bridge) and even other drivers, to preserve a speedway.

The tired argument that collisions would still happen at lower speeds - forgetting that said collisions would be less likely to kill at lower speeds.

All to save a seconds time.