School zone speed limit on Highway 84 moves to 45 MPH
Published 7:13 pm Friday, February 20, 2015
Powell Cobb — Post-Searchlight
slowing down: After the school zone speed limit for Bainbridge High School jumped from 45 to 55 back in June 2014, it’s now back down to 45.
After the speed limit was raised from 55 to 65 on Highway 84 between Bainbridge and Thomasville in June 2014, locals have shown concern for the corresponding speed increase in the Bainbridge High School zone from 45 to 55.
This week, however, the speed limit was dropped back down by the Georgia Department of Transportation to 45, keeping the speed limits outside the school zone at 65.
Decatur County Superintendent Fred Rayfield expressed appreciation for the speed change, but questioned the 20 MPH drop into the school zone.
When he and the Board of Education approached the Georgia DoT after the initial speed hike, they requested three changes: extend the turning lane into the high school, expand the school zone on both sides of the BHS property and reduce the schools zone’s speed back down to 45.
The Georgia DoT has complied with all three.
“I do appreciate Department of Transportation following through with the three things they said they could for us,” Rayfield said. “It is still in our estimation a very unsafe situation.”
BHS principal Tommy Howell described the speed change as a “blessing” and a step in the right direction, but agreed such a steep drop in the speed could cause more issues with traffic.
“A steep drop is a concern,” Howell said. “That’s where we have the pile ups. I wish it was a safer area, but I remained concerned about the 65 miles per hour.”
The Georgia Department of Transportation raised the limit from the west side of Thomasville to the east side of Bainbridge based on the results of a study in May 2014. Engineers recorded the speeds of vehicles, studied the roadway topography, reviewed accident history and considered vehicle volumes and other pertinent information at numerous locations along the route.
“We found that the operating speeds were fairly high and in order to eliminate the possibility of having greater than desired speed differentials, the decision was made to raise the speed limit,” District Traffic Engineer Van Mason said via press release after the speed was raised from 55 to 65.
