Council awards contract to install speed humps
Robbinsville – Folks who live and work along Ford Street would like drivers to obey the 20 mph speed limit.
But since many don’t, the town is stepping in.
The Town Council awarded a $1,208 contract to Treetop Products to install three speed humps and two warning signs along Ford Street. They should be in place by March, Robbinsville Mayor Shaun Adams said.
Ford Street is about a third of a mile long, two lanes and mostly straight. It stretches from North Main Street roughly across the street from Moose Branch Road and after a slight bend, it is a straight shot to Rodney Orr Bypass.
Along the way is a hotel, apartment building, numerous homes, a mobile home park, a tire repair shop, a basketball court, Duke Energy’s maintenance and equipment yard, Willow Tree Restaurant, and the side entrance to Quality Inn Hotel and Celebrate Grace Thrift Store.
There are 20 mph, speed-limit signs and “Slow Children at Play” signs at both ends of Ford Street. Traffic along the street tends to go 5-10 mph above the speed limit on average.
Except for the speed limit sign, Ford Street looks like many streets where the speed limit is 35 mph.
“… Residents are very concerned about the safety of pedestrians walking on Ford Street as multiple dogs have been ran over and many people are complaining about the people speeding,” Adams said.
The neighborhood petitioned the town to install something to discourage drivers from going too fast and at its December meeting, the council voted to install speed humps.
Speed humps are a gentler form of traffic calming than speed bumps, such as the three that are bolted onto Cody Street, which has served as a side entrance to the old Stanley Furniture factory.
On Cody Street, the speed bumps are only a few inches wide, but two inches high and stretch across the street. Drivers have to slow to 5 mph or less to avoid a bone-jarring, alignment-altering experience.
Speed humps scheduled for Ford Street will encourage a motorist to slow to 10-15 mph.
The humps are four feet wide, two inches high and will stretch across the street.
They will be built on top of the asphalt.
The Town Council decided to install three speed humps rather than four, which board members said would be excessive.
The contract also calls for speed hump caution signs to be placed at either end of Ford Street.
Other news and notes
Town officials are scratching their heads wondering where former mayor Steve Hooper’s city-issued cell phone is.
Alderman Debbie Beasley said she was under the impression the former mayor turned in his cell phone around the time he returned his computer and other items, but Town Hall has no record of it and has been paying the cell phone bill even after Hooper left office.
“He told me he had turned it in,” Beasley said.
The council voted to disconnect service to the cell phone — wherever it is.
The council opened bids for a surplus Ford Explorer, with five bids ranging from $5,000 to $10,358, awarding the vehicle to the high bidder.
John Colwell with the non-profit REVVED UP (Robbinsville Envisioning Vital, Vibrant Economic Development) updated the council about a Robbinsville-area Christmas light contest, announcing that winners would be notified. The contest has grown from 15 participants the first year, to 25 the next, to 40 this most recent Christmas season.
The contest was open for residents and business inside Robbinsville and up to two miles beyond town limits.
Colwell said he hopes the contest will continue to grow, including bigger prizes and become a tourist attraction for Graham County.