Residents Raise Concerns About Speeding, Road Conditions at District 2 Town Hall
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WAKA) — Dalraida Baptist Church was the setting for a District 2 town hall meeting Monday night, where nearly 200 residents gathered to voice concerns about crime and traffic safety.
Hearing gunshots and seeing reckless drivers were among the main reasons many said they came to the meeting, which District 2 City Councilwoman Julie Turner Beard described as an effort to turn “pain into purpose.”
“I wanted everybody to know that we are transparent and we’re trying to find solutions for them, and just to be able to ask questions and have time to talk to some officers and people in law enforcement,” Beard said.
City and county leaders, along with law enforcement officials, addressed safety issues and potential solutions. Traffic concerns took center stage, with many residents voicing frustration over speeding and poor road conditions.
Wesley Cox, director of traffic engineering for the City of Montgomery, pointed to long, straight streets where drivers frequently exceed speed limits.
“We see long straightaways with very high speeds,” Cox said. “Pinebrook Drive, for instance, runs between North Burbank and Wares Ferry Road and comes out near the school. That long straightaway has a 25 mph speed limit. We’re seeing that 85 percent of vehicles are traveling around 40 to 42 mph, with a high speed of 92 mph.”
Residents also cited Federal Drive’s poor road conditions and reckless driving on Wares Ferry Road as major concerns.
“Anybody that’s been on Wares Ferry Road has been passed by a person going down that middle lane — and that’s not what that’s for; that is a turn lane,” Beard said. “But we are going to address that. We will be putting in some traffic-calming solutions from what I hear.”
Joy Marshall, who lives in the Eastbrook/Morningview neighborhood, shared her experience with dangerous drivers.
“I was at a stop sign at Morningview, and a guy passed me going every bit of 70 (mph), blew through the stop sign, went to Federal Drive and turned on the red light and didn’t stop,” Marshall said. “All of this concerns all the neighbors — not only me, but everybody in here.”
City officials said two major projects aimed at addressing traffic and speeding issues are in the works, though they stressed that improvements will not happen overnight. Several areas in the district are also getting new roadway striping.
Another District 2 town hall meeting is planned for October.
