Several North Salina residents expressed concerns about the safety of pedestrians, especially children, who cross North Ninth Street, during a meeting at the St. John’s Military School library Thursday evening.
Public Works Director Jim Kowach said Salina officials are considering adding crosswalks and lowering the speed limit on North Ninth Street from 40 to 35 miles per hour.
Kowach said a speed study determined most people generally drive 40 mph or less, but that some people go much faster during the early morning and late evening. About 7,500 vehicles drive along North Ninth Street on an average day.
In an interview after the meeting, Karen Humphries, who lives in the 1100 block of North Ninth Street, said the current speed limit of 40 mph is too high.
“I think it’s wrong in a residential area with a bunch of kids trying to get to and from school buses,” she said.
Her husband, Tom Humphries, said he supports lowering the speed limit to 30 mph because children have been hit by vehicles, and because people attempting to pull their vehicles in and out of driveways have been struck by oncoming traffic.
(Read more: News – Salina Journal)