Biscoe commissioners slow speed bumps ♥

As published August 16, 2012 in the Courier-Tribune

By Hugh Martin

biscoewriter@yahoo.com

BISCOE — Speed bumps continue to be the wish of many residents in Biscoe since the town first installed one on a cut-through street during the major road construction completed last year along N.C. 24/27.

Since the first one was installed on Church Street, others have been requested and installed on Pine, Craven and Leach streets.

Now members of the Biscoe Board of Commissioners have put the brakes on new installations and have approved a policy for future requests.

Residents of Martin Street, which extends outside the city limits and has no outlets, had requested a speed hump. At the July meeting, a resident said that he believed “the speedsters were undertaking illicit activities on Martin Street Extension.”

Under the new policy, the Martin Street request for a speed hump would not be allowed. The policy states, in part, that streets with no outlets would not have “traffic calming devices” installed. Other criteria requires a history of traffic or speeding complaints and all owners of property that would be affected by an installation should file a petition with the town.

“In the case of no outlet roads (dead ends), if everyone on a road has signed off then the speeder would be one of the signatories, a renter of one of the signatories or a friend,” said Biscoe Manager Brooks Lockhart. “They should be able to regulate themselves.”

Christy Poole of Biscoe told the board that she had been on Martin Street “many times,” and had been there for several hours over the past weekend. She said that there were many children in the area and numerous cars had come down the street with “radios blaring, drivers texting and cars flying.”

“I would like to see someone walk up and tell the driver to turn the radio down and stop speeding,” Poole said. “I guarantee you that it wouldn’t end pretty.”

Lockhart said that residents should notify law enforcement to handle those problems.

“That would create a record of complaints that could be used to address the problem,” Lockhart said.

In other business, Mayor Mike Criscoe and Commissioners Gene Anderson, John Beard, Jimmy Blake, Jimmy Cagle and Jerry Smith:

* Held a public hearing for the first reading of an updated noise ordinance. Another public hearing will be held at the September meeting. Copies of the ordinance are available to the public at town hall.

* Heard a report from Blake that there has been some interest in the development of multi-family housing.

* Mike Rood from the Montgomery County Council on Aging has requested that the town identify a site to be used to provide senior citizens with a daily lunch. The meals for the congregate meal site would be prepared at a facility in Star and delivered daily.

* Were advised by Sam Stewart, assistant chief of Biscoe Fire Department, that the department had taken delivery of a new fire engine that was purchased by Montgomery County. The county has established a policy to purchase one new truck a year for each department in rotation, which gives each county fire department a new truck every 10 years.

* Learned that music events at the town park were being planned and an adult kickball league is being organized.