The decision by the state Department of Transportation was met by disappointment from many people, but there are some changes on the way to help make the roadway safer.
The DOT took a hard look at 38A between Bevier and Valentine roads following the . Engineers drove the roadway, conducted radar checks on cars passing through the area, and looked at data concerning accidents in the area over the past five years.
In the end, DOT experts in that area, but also decided to add signs warning drivers of upcoming intersections and adjust existing signs there. It was also pointed out that when a section of the road is repaved in 2018, the white shoulders lines will be made more prominent and that rumble strips will be added to the shoulders and the center line.
A majority of accidents in that area, it turns out, involve single cars going off the road after encountering deer or other animals, so signs warning of deer crossing will also be added.
Drivers need to be made aware of the increased potential for cars entering and exiting the roadway along that part of Route 38A, and signs can help get their attention. Reminding people of deer in the area and installing rumble strips may help, as well.
So even though the decision regarding the speed limit wasn't what many people had hoped or expected, nobody should feel that they weren't listened to. The DOT conducted an exhausting investigation of the roadway, and the changes that were proposed may actually make the roadway safer than lowering the speed limit by 10 mph would have.
