"It was a public safety concern."
That was the consensus of county officials in deciding to lower the speed limit on Lee Town Road recently. The section of roadway is not in the Pea Ridge city limits and is governed by Benton County.
Jeff Clark, administrator of public service for Benton County, said he initiated the decrease in the speed limit. The speed limit is now 45 miles per hour from the intersection with Arkansas Highway 72 on the east end to Miser Road when it decreases to 35 miles per hour until the city limits.
"We had several calls to come in ... there's a farm there on that road. There have been a couple of close calls," Clark said, adding that he went out and monitored the road and "just by observation, deemed it to be a safety hazard." He said he also had his road superintendent monitor the road.
"They're not going 55 miles per hour; they're usually going quite a bit faster," Clark said. He said he talked to Benton County Judge Bob Clinard and "expressed my concerns. He said we could" decrease the speed limit."
Clark said he put the signs up recently.
"There was someone who was almost hit on a tractor," Clark said.
"We got a lot of calls from people off Miser Road. There was a lot of confusion about where the signs actually were. It went from 25 to 35 to 55," he said, explaining that the signs on either side of the road did not coincide.
Pea Ridge Mayor Jackie Crabtree, Pea Ridge Street Department superintendent Nathan See and Police Chief Ryan Walker all said the section of the road in question is in the county's jurisdiction and none were contacted about the proposed speed limit change.
Inside the city limits, on the west end of the road, the speed limit increases from 25 to 30 to 35 heading east out of the city. Prior to the county's change, the speed limit on the section of roadway from the city limits to the intersection with Arkansas Highway 72 was 55 miles per hour.
General News on 02/03/2016