I live in the 6000 block of Murrayville Road with my family. True, the posted speed limit is 45, but more often than not, people are going 50 or even 60 miles an hour. The straightaway in front of my house is more like a drag strip. I would like to see the speed limit lowered or speeding tickets issued or an increased police presence due to the proximity of Murrayville Elementary. There is never a time when people do the speed limit. They are either late to work, or in a hurry to get home, or think that because it is 2 in the afternoon, that no one will mind if they speed past my house. How many more fatalities does it take to get someone's attention that speeding is a large problem on this road? Furthermore, tailgating is a huge problem too. I live on this road and I DO the speed limit. Those folks who think they are driving the "Murrayville Speedway" are frequently tailgating because they think I am the one who is going too slow. Then, at the red light at North College Road, they tell me I am number one! I would like to extend a special hello to the person who shotguns out of Clewis Road in his green full size pickup truck every morning at about 6:30 and proceeds like there is no bottom to his accelerator pedal.

Thank you for all those who have responded. If you would like to get uptodate on my correspondance to our local officials. Email me at brandonadams@seacoastrealty.com and I will forward you what I have. This problem will not go away or be resolved until we all join together as a community.

Please forward this on to those affected. The more folks who sign on the better. Let us know why you would like something done about the speeding. Personal experiences etc.

Thank you!

I see that you contacted DOT. Did you request a traffic study? Usually they will monitor the area to determine the extent of the problem before saying "no."

Here is the response from the DOT on March 20, 2009:
Dear Mr. Adams:

This is in response to your recent request for stop signs to be installed along SR 1322 (Murrayville Road) in Wilmington, New Hanover County. An investigation into the safety needs of this subdivision has been completed.

During a recent field investigation, it was determined that Murrayville Road is a two lane dead-end road that serves as a neighborhood collector street for all of the intersecting subdivision streets. All of the intersections within the subdivision are currently operating under stop sign control except for the intersection of Murrayville Road and SR 2655 (Irish Court), which is currently operating under yield control. The majority of the motorists are local residents and are very familiar with the roadway network.

A review of the most recent five years of crash data revealed a total of six reported crashes. Four of the six crashes identified involved angle type crashes at various intersections, the remaining two crashes were random or occurred downstream of the area. Speed was not a contributing factor in any of the angle crashes that occurred along this section of roadway. After reviewing the crash reports, it was found that the motorists approaching the intersections from the side streets either failed to stop at the respective stop signs or failed to yield to the oncoming traffic.

A speed study was conducted along Murrayville Road on March 19, 2009 to determine the 85th percentile speed of the motorists. The 85th percentile speed was found to be 39 mph. The results of the study illustrated that the majority of motorists respect and appear comforatble driving at or above the posted 35 mph speed limit. However, there is always an element that is disregarding the legal limits and driving at an abusive speed. The solution to this type of driver negligance is increased enforcmment.

Also during the field investigation, it was noticed that the sharp horizontal curve located in the vicinity needs advance turn warning signs installed with 25 mph advisory speed panels. In addition, there is also significant rutting along the edge of pavement throughout the horizontal curve that needs rehabilitation.

Given the reported crash history, the nature of the crashes, and the 85th percentile speed, I do not feel installing stop signs along Murrayville Road is an appropriate solution. By copy of this email, I am requesting the Division install Advance Turn Warning Signs with 25 mph advisory speed panels in both directions in advance of the horizontal curve, and rehabilitate the shoulder throughout the horizontal curve to correct the rutting.

Thank you for your interest in highway safety. Although we could not comply with your request, we trust you understand our positiion in this matter. If conditions change significantly throughout this location, we will be glad to reevaluate the need for additional improvements.

Sincerely,


M. Pate Butler

Mr. Butler,

I agree with you that Murrayville Road is a neighborhood collector street for the various subdivisions that are located along Murrayville Road. However, the location where the field investigation took place was near I-40 and that is NOT where the speeding is happening. I live on Murrayville Road between the Brittany and Quail Woods subdivisions. This is where the majority of the speeding is occurring, not by I-40 where the study was conducted. Yes, the majority of the people that live in the subdivisions stop at the stop signs when approaching Murrayville Road. Once drivers get onto Murrayville Road (on the straightaway portion between Quail Woods and the "S" curves), it is a speedway. The signs that you have requested that the DOT install will help alert drivers to the curves that are located on the roadway, but that will not stop people from traveling 50 or 60 miles per hour in front of my home (which is a 45 mph zone). When my house was built, Murrayville Road dead ended shortly past my house. Now there are copious families and pets that live there. Somehow when the subdivisons were built, no one addressed the straight a way where lots of cars often exceed the speed limit. I invite you to re-conduct the study on the straightaway portion of Murrayville Road and I'm positive that you will get different results in your data. Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter.

Sincerely,
A Murrayville Road Resident

This issue will not go to rest, and we need more residents to speak up, and alert their county officials that they must lower the speed limit to 35 across the whole road, and install stop signs when entering into Brittany Woods and Quail woods. Seriously folks this will add 20 to 30 seconds to your commute. Just yesterday I saw a white pickup pass a mother driving kids in a van dangerously by Pointer Lane.