No need for speed

Speed limits can be a tricky thing on a gravel road: driving at the posted limit doesn’t always mean you’re driving safely.

This concern has led a county resident to request that the county reduce the speed limit on Barlow Canyon Rd to 30 mph, which passes right through the middle of his land.

With new neighbors moving into the area and construction taking place nearby, Dave Wolfskill says the number of people traveling more quickly than he feels is safe has increased.

He told the commission last week that this has led him to fear that harm may come to himself or his family – especially his grandkids, who must cross that road when they want to visit him.

But while the commission was sympathetic, changing the limit isn’t as simple as posting a sign. Speed limits are set at the state level and, for a county road, the statutory default is 55 mph.

Commissioner Fred Devish explained that “willy nilly” speed designations led to the state deciding that less latitude should be given to counties.

“It is kind of a quandary and I sympathize. There are several like this out there,” Devish said.

A process does exist to change the limit on an individual road. The question before the commission last week was whether the traffic issue on Barlow Canyon Rd justifies going through that process.

Traffic Study

Road & Bridge Foreman Morgan Ellsbury reported the results of a recently completed traffic study. The results showed that the average speed of cars on Barlow Canyon Rd is 16.6 mph and the average speed of trucks is 19.9 mph.

The road sees an average usage of 21 vehicles on a weekday.

Alterations to a speed limit can only be made according to rules based around the 85th percentile, Ellsbury said: the speed at or below which 85% of drivers on a road segment are traveling.

In this case, that speed is 20.6 mph.

The county can only change the speed limit to within 10 mph of that figure, Ellsbury said, so the commission would need to request a limit between 10 mph and 30 mph. However, the mandatory minimum speed is 30 mph, so the only possibility would be to request a change to 30 mph.

But if vehicles are already traveling far below 55 mph, and the top speed recorded was 34.4 mph, what need is there for the county to consider lowering the limit?

“My only question is, why? When the traffic is already going below the speed limit naturally,” Ellsbury said.

Slower is Safer

In Wolfskill’s opinion, 30 mph is still too fast for Barlow Canyon Rd. He pointed out that the road is difficult to travel more quickly than that.

“Is 30 mph safe through my back yard?” he asked. “Could you stop going at 30 mph? Because several have had difficulty doing so.”

Wolfskill said he has seen vehicles that “locked up” trying to stop while going at 30 mph and has had to jump out of their way.

Wolfskill expressed appreciation for the “frequent sheriff patrols” along the road, but said that the issue isn’t that drivers are exceeding the legal limit, he said – it’s that they’re exceeding the speeds at which it’s safe to travel that particular road.

“None of that road is safe at 55 mph,” he said.

Devish agreed, commenting, “You’re going to end up in a ditch at 55 mph.” His fellow commissioners concurred.

Giving Teeth

Reducing the speed limit on Barlow Canyon Rd would give law enforcement more teeth, Wolfskill said.

Sheriff Jeff Hodge agreed, stating that it would give his deputies “more enforcement power”.

There are more and more “problem roads” in the county, he said, but there’s little law enforcement can do about it when the speed at which travel becomes potentially dangerous is much lower than the speed limit.

However, he asked Wolfskill and the commission to bear in mind that there are only so many people in uniform available, which means that deputies cannot be at every 30 mph zone every day.

“I want to make sure that expectations are clear,” he said.

The three commissioners were in agreement to move forward with the first step of imposing a new limit, which would involve a formal, in-depth traffic study. Commissioner Kelly Dennis commented that he would like to move forward to, “Have the paperwork behind it to make an adequate decision.”

Ellsbury stated that he will move forward with asking the University of Wyoming to handle the traffic study as an independent third party.