PORTAGE | Traffic Commission members on Thursday endorsed a plan to alter speed limits throughout Portage.
Under the plan, commission member and City Engineer Craig Hendrix said speeds on collector streets like Central and Stone avenues and Lute, Airport and Swanson roads will increase from 30 to 35 mph. In residential neighborhoods, speed limits will decrease from 30 to 25 mph. In both cases, there will be some exceptions, he said, like along Mulberry Avenue, where elements make it dangerous to increase speeds.
"It's wide open, but you've got a church, a school and a lot of residences toward Willowdale," Hendrix said. "I thought Mulberry had too many people living on it."
One street that will be increasing, if the current plan is adopted, is Samuelson Road, south of U.S. 20. Hendrix said the tentative plan is for the speed to be bumped up to 35 mph, from 30 mph.
Michelle Kelly, who lives along Samuelson Road, said she'd like to see the speed limit decreased to 25 mph. Kelly said cars routinely either roll through a stop sign at Portage Avenue or speed right through it, making it a dangerous stretch.
"I think the safety of the children is important," Kelly said. "It's already very difficult for us to cross the street to talk to the neighbors."
Kelly said that while it may be considered a collector street, Samuelson is lined with residences. Commission member Billie Miletich said with Samuelson's one-lane railroad underpass and two bicycle trails crossing it, she could see why residents would want the speed limit decreased.
Hendrix, though, said with multiple stop signs and the underpass, it would be difficult for a driver to speed along the stretch.
"You can't really get that speed going unless you really lay on the gas," he said.
Regardless, he said, the city will examine stop signs, working to increase visibility, and possibly paint crosswalks at Samuelson Road and Portage Avenue.
The overall plan is part of a proposal by City Councilman Ted Uzelac Jr. to bring traffic enforcement under local ordinance instead of state law. If the proposal is adopted, the city would receive money collected through citations, instead of the state or county. In order to collect from the citations, speed limits on city streets cannot mirror the 30 mph limits set by the state.
With unanimous approval from the commission, the plan heads to the Ordinance Committee before heading to the full City Council.
Commission Chairman and City Council President Ed Gottschling said the plan has a few more hurdles before final adoption.
"This is still a work in progress. It's no done deal," he said. "There isn't even an ordinance drafted at this point."
