Drivers who pass through one Elon neighborhood may quite literally end up seeing red under an anti-speeding proposal that a group of concerned residents has pitched to the town’s elected leaders.
A trio of homeowners from the Cable Square subdivision ultimately approached Elon’s town council on Monday to request a series of all-way stop signs along the neighborhood’s two primary thoroughfares to prevent drivers from exceeding the posted 20-mile-an-hour speed limit in this community on the town’s northern periphery.
Jim King of Olsen Drive, who has emerged as an unofficial spokesman for these residents, insisted that these stops signs would do much to discourage drivers from building up speed along Stone Gables and Olsen drives, which crisscross this neighborhood of just over 100 homes.
“This has gone on. . .for eight years, give or take,” King added when he spoke during a designated public comment period on Monday. “We are concerned about children. We have adults who are walking with dogs. . . and we have neighbors who are backing out of driveways and almost getting hit.”
King had previously told The Alamance News that the people who tear through the subdivision are generally other Cable Square residents rather than drivers who cut through the area en route to other destinations. King assured the council that the town’s police department has made a valiant effort to discourage these resident speed demons – albeit with little in the way of permanent results to show for its efforts.
King went on to encourage the council to recommend the proposed stop signs to the N.C. Department of Transportation, which ultimately has jurisdiction over the subdivision’s state-maintained roads. His entreaties were echoed by fellow Olsen Drive residents John Harmon and Josh Trotter, who likewise availed themselves of Monday’s comment period to address the town council.
“We know it’s not a magic wand,” Trotter said of the proposed stop signs. “But it’s a good start.”
In light of the council’s standing policy to take no immediate action in response to public comments, Elon’s mayor Emily Sharpe told King and his neighbors that the council wouldn’t vote on their proposal that evening. Sharpe nevertheless directed the town manager to draw up a formal proposal for all-way stop signs to bring before the council at a future meeting.
