9th St. West speed limit won’t change

The speed limit on 9th Street West will remain 25 mph despite a request by a resident of the street that it be changed to 15 mph.

Instead, members of the Havre Streets and Sidewalks Committee recommended during their meeting Thursday that the police department increase patrols of the area.

"And, I mean, I feel bad because that's what we recommend a lot," commi t tee member Al len "Woody" Woodwick said.

He can understand the need for 15 mph speed limits in certain areas with high numbers of children or dangerous driving conditions, but the area in question is relatively open, houses sit back from the road, and he didn't see many children, he said.

Many residents have asked about the possibility of reducing the speed limit in their neighborhoods to 15 mph, Woodwick said.

"And what it still comes down to is, are we going to slow them down," he added.

Some drivers probably do speed on the section of the road by the cemetery, Public Works Director Dave Peterson said.

"But I think the majority of them are right around that 25 to 35 range," he said.

"I don't think you're going to solve the problem of people up there doing that," he said, especially since the speed limit will still have to be Enforced.

Also during the meeting committee members:

• Were told by Peterson that the inclement weather has delayed the paving of Saddle Butte Drive and Knob Road.
• The pothole machine has been repairing several holes around town, but wi th the rain, Peterson said that as soon as they are filled with a coal mix, that they get splashed back out.

• Discussed a complaint by a 12th Avenue resident that a section of the street was not properly paved as per subdivision plans and is causing water to sheet across the road.
• Peterson told committee members that the developers of the Brandon Subdivision finished the project as required and actually did more than necessary, suggesting that Public Works continue to monitor the situation and readdress it if it becomes dangerous or threatens to damage the road.