Loose Ends: No more need for speed

At first glance the old trailer by the side of the road appeared to be just one more addition to someone’s collection of old vehicles. No one seemed to notice it. Then as I walked briskly down the Fifth Street hill one morning, I glanced up to see that a large red number 42 had suddenly appeared. Realizing it was a speed warning sign perched atop the trailer, I wondered at its purpose. Vehicles had been zooming down the hill all summer long, had someone finally worried for the safety of the neighborhood children walking to school?
The warning sign got me questioning myself. Could I have picked up my pace that much? I walk fast, but 17 miles over the limit seems a bit far-fetched. Turning onto Fifth from Hill Street, I noticed no one walking or driving. Yet, no sooner had I looked back than I saw a car coming up close behind me on my right. I hadn’t heard a thing.
Zooming down the hill all summer and autumn, vehicles continued to speed without any sort of consequence. One of the neighbors must have complained, so rather than assign an officer to set up a speed trap by the side of the street, the sign must have been the first course of action. It was only there temporarily, as it is gone now.
Could the sign have worked as a deterrent? If nothing else, the presence of the sign made a few of us think about the problem of speeding through residential areas.
Slowing down enough to notice the pedestrians or vehicles crossing at the intersection of Garfield and Fifth might have been the best result of posting the speed reminder.
The new school has unclogged some of the traffic flow at that intersection, and with the preschool and kindergarten classes moved from the administration building there are no longer long lines of vehicles waiting to drop off or pick up children. However, there are still times of the day when crossing Garfield Street at that intersection is difficult with cars speeding through on their way to and from all three schools. “No need for speed” might be a new sign that could be posted soon.
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