Document text
State sets speeds after study When they put up speed signs on Old Stage Road from Gold Hill to Ross Lane, why didn't they continue the signs from Ross Lane to Old Stage Road into Jacksonville? There is a great need for speed control on this road. -- Del E., Central Point If you believe lower speed limits are needed on a particular Jackson County road, they first have to be studied by the state Speed Control Board, part of the Oregon Department of Transportation. "What they do is provide a study that shows what the `safe speed' needs to be," said County Engineer Dale Petrasek. "That speed is set largely by how fast 85 percent of the motorists on the road are traveling, because they say that 85 percent generally drive in a safe manner." Requests for speed studies on roads outside cities should go to Eric Niemeyer, the county's traffic engineer. Old Stage Road does not have a uniform speed limit. Petrasek said the official limits are the basic-rule speed (55 mph maximum, but slower depending on weather and road conditions) from Jacksonville north to Ross Lane; 35 mph from Ross Lane to Beall Lane; 40 mph from Beall Lane to a point 0.7 miles north of Scenic Avenue; the basic-rule speed from there to Cyprus Drive; and 45 mph from Cyprus Drive to where Old Stage Road ends near Gold Hill. ( Send your questions to "Since You Asked," Mail Tribune Newsroom, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501; or by fax to (541) 776-4376; or by e-mail to: [email protected] Please include your name, address and phone number for verification.) Today's News Index Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA