Town road that cuts through HOA courts

We have 5 housing courts, 3 on one side of a town maintained road, and 2 on the other side. The road has signs posted "Through Trucks Prohibited" but big semi-trucks use this road to access Giant, Safeway, Sears, and other stores.

The road has a "25 MPH" speed limit but it is becoming a major short cut since we don't have stop signs or lights on this road. There are plans in the works to build a 42 acre shopping center at the end of this road on our end of it, that stops at a T.

We already have problems with speeding and big rigs using the road, even though our HOA sent letters to the biggest of the businesses, stating "Through Trucks Prohibited", and the police set up those speed-o-meter units, but it still continues to be a very dangerous situation.

One of the courts is at the bottom of a knoll and you take your life in your hands pulling out of the court. We have done a line of site survey at the corners since residents with extra cars park along this road. It's fine if it is a little vehicle, but a big SUV is another story. The town said they could move the "No Parking Here To Corner" signs closer together but then people complained they would lose parking spaces.

One of the kids in the neighborhood was hit by a car last year, but this car was going slow, so it just scared the kid. Can we petition the town to put in speed bumps, or would stop signs be the way to go? This shopping center will definitely make for higher traffic use in a residential area. Have any of you had this type of situation, and what did you do?

You can petition the town to do anything you want, whatever you feel will work. You can also keep after the police to patrol the road. Encourage your members to call them anytime they observe unsafe conditions.

I have found that letters from the president of the HOA on association letterhead seem to carry a little more weight than individual complaints from citizens. And of course, any written complaint is far better than a phone call.

If the trucks are making deliveries to the stores then they are probably not "through" trucks but they can still be a nuisance.

Speed bumps (or "humps" as they call them in SC) are pretty much a pain for everyone and a hinderance to emergency vehicles and snow plows (not in SC). Stop signs seem like a better solution to me.

We asked the local police to check for speeders in our neighborhood a while back and they said they would probably catch and ticket our own members. We told them it didn't matter, speeding is speeding no matter who is doing it.

People won't pay attention to "watch for children" signs but they will at least slow down for the stop signs and you can demand that the police enforce the requirement to stop at stop signs.

RonaldW and RobertR1, I spoke with the Town manager today. I informed him of the communities concerns with speeders and truckers using the road as a short cut through town. I asked him about putting stops signs at at least one of the intersections. And his comment was "It's well known that people tend to speed faster between stop signs to make up for lost time."

Then, I mentioned that we didn't even have pedestrian crosswalks between our courts, and he said he would check into that when his paint team has time.

All of this sounds very much like someone trying to get out of work. So, I asked for the name of the Planning Commissioner, and thanked him very much for his valuable time. Blah-Blah, and so forth. I now have the name of someone higher on the food chain, and will take this to the BOD to send a letter.

There seems to be some hesitancy about owners going to public government meetings and expressing their concerns. Is the community thing to do and get your name recognized. I have said several time that a Civic committee should be appointed by the Board to approach city or county official and form a liaison with them. One of the productive things they could do was establish a name and phone number for special projects that can come up, like this traffic issue. Now you have to start from the begining and go through the syetem.

We just finished our monthly board meeting and concerns were expressed about speeding on our (posted 25 MPH) main road. I will write the mayor on association letterhead asking for assistance in the form of increased enforcement, additional speed limit signs, and "traffic calming devices" (speed humps).

RobertR1,

I received a return email from the Town Manager this morning, and he sent notice to the Chief of Police to monitor the speeding, the Public Works Director to get us some stop signs, and the Planning Commission to put our area on the planning study. Didn't expect a response so quickly. Here is an edited version of the letter:

Dear Sir,

I am a resident of the XXXXXXX Homeowners' Association (XXHOA) located along XXXXXXXXXXXXX Drive. Our community involves XXXXXXX Court, XXXXXX Court, XXXXXXX Court, XXXXXX Court, and XXXXXXXX XXXX Lane.

XXXXXXXXX Drive has signs posted "Through Trucks Prohibited" but big semi-trucks use this road to access businesses along XXXX Highway.

XXXXXXXX XXXXX Drive has a "25 MPH" speed limit but it is becoming a major short cut, primarily because we don't have stop signs or pedestrian crosswalks on the section of the road that services our community. There are plans in the works to build a 42 acre shopping center on the other side of this road, across from our section of it, that terminates at XXXXXXX Road and XXXXXXXX Drive, by the XXXXXXXXXX Corporation. Placing traffic control infrastructure prior to development would directly benefit the community.

Residents have reported issues with speeding and big rigs using the road, and the police have set up traffic monitoring units in the past, but it continues to be a very dangerous situation.

XXXXX Court and XXXXXX XXXX Court exits are situated at the bottom of a knoll which obstructs your view and poses a driving hazard every time you pull out of the courts. We have had a line of site survey conducted at the corners where residents with extra cars park along XXXXXXXXXXX Drive. The results of the survey indicate that large vehicles such as SUVs or trailers pose particular problems. The town offered to move the "No Parking Here To Corner" signs closer together but this only resulted in complaints from the residents that they would lose parking spaces.

There has been one recorded incident where one of the neighborhood children was struck by a car but was, fortunately, uninjured. The likelihood of an increase in accidents is undeniable if measures are not taken to reduce the velocity and unimpeded flow of traffic on XXXXXXXXXXXXX Drive, especially if the proposed shopping center comes to fruition.

I spoke to Bo T. on 26 November 2007, and he stated, "It is well known that people go faster between stop signs to make up for lost time." I advised Mr. T. that in our section of XXXXXXXXXXX Drive there were not even cross-walks available to pedestrians and he said he would check into that, and that I should contact, Chris M., at the Planning Department making note of the communities concerns with speeding and large truck traffic on the road.

Ultimately, we would like to see a four-way stop placed at XXXXXXX Drive and XXXXXXXX Drive, and pedestrian crosswalks set up between our courts on XXXXXXXXXX Drive. I will address this issue at our next Board of Directors meeting, and would appreciate any input from your office.

Regards,

RobertR1,

Through reading your posts in the past, I believe you've been through the trenches, so two Gold Stars from you is a huge compliment. A significant victory but still a war to win. I'm kinda getting into this stuff.