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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels July 29, 2004 North Mountain is hotbed for hotrods Allow me to set the scene. It was around 12:30 in the afternoon on July 12. I had just finished my lunch of leftover halibut and spinach, rinsed and stacked my dishes and exited the front door of my new home on North Mountain Avenue. Once outside, I looked left and noticed a shiny new silver Porsche crossing over the Bear Creek Bridge. As the Porsche cleared the bridge, the driver decided to test the speed of his car on the flat straight-away bordered by a new neighborhood on one side of the street and the increasingly popular North Mountain Park on the other side. As the vehicle passed me going 55 to 60 in a 25 MPH zone, I shouted loud and clear, "slow down", but to no avail. Just about 1.5 seconds later the Porsche was forced to slam on its brakes to avoid a dog that had darted out from between parked cars. All survived the scare. The excessive speeding on this short stretch of road plays out on a regular basis. Occasionally, Ashland Police set up a "speed trap." Many citations get written, but as a deterren ... it's not! This former country lane now resembles a short and tempting "drag strip" with a city park and a new neighborhood as the reluctant spectators. Clearly, I do have a problem with the speeding in my new neighborhood, but I do not have a problem with the fact that North Mountain Avenue is a rather well used arterial road. Spreading the traffic around our linear town allows for more of us to share in the burden. However, North Mountain Avenue needs traffic calming measures to literally force traffic to drive at the 25 MPH posted speed limit. In my humble opinion, the gentle speed bumps have worked magic on Oak St. In conclusion, let me set the stage for another scene - a scene that has not happened and hopefully never will. An Ashland High School varsity baseball game is underway at North Mountain Park. A group of young children are playing under the large black walnut tree adjacent to the nature center. Suddenly, a foul ball gets hit out of the park and lands in someone's yard on the other side of North Mountain Avenue. (It happens often). The carefree kids notice the foul ball escaping the ballpark. The temptation to be the first kid to the ball is too great to resist. A foot race ensues. In the meantime, Joe Schmo, in his shiny new silver Porsche is flying down the road at 55 MPH. This time, the kids and the vehicle experience a tragic encounter. All is not well. Bow Seltzer Ashland DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams