December 26, 2021
By: Dwayne Page
Motorists on Whorton Springs Road will have to travel a bit slower.
During Monday night’s regular monthly meeting (December 20), the DeKalb County Commission by a unanimous voice vote, granted a request by individuals who live on Whorton Springs Road to set the speed limit there at 45 miles per hour.
Over the past couple of years, the county commission has set speed limits on several county roads at the public’s request in the interest of safety.
The following are a few examples:
*November 2019, the county commission voted to establish a 35 mile per hour speed zone on Tramel Branch Road near Alexandria
*June 2020, a 35 mile per hour speed limit was set for Johnsons Chapel Road.
*July 2020, the county commission voted to establish a 35 mile per hour speed limit on the Ragland Bottom Road to the US Army Corps of Engineers line; a 30 mile per hour limit on the Four Seasons Road from the Young Bend Cemetery to the Corps of Engineers line; and a 30 mile per hour speed limit on Dearman Street from the Smithville City Limits to Bright Hill Road. The portion of Dearman Street in the city was already posted at 30 miles per hour.
*August 2020, a continuous 20 mile per hour speed limit was established for Puckett’s Point Road. Up until then the first 2/10s of the two-mile road had been posted 30 miles per hour with the remaining 1.8-mile stretch being 20 mph.
*July 2021, a 30 mile per hour speed limit was set for Big Hurricane Road
Under state law, the speed limit on any county road is 55 miles per hour unless the county commission acts to change it. Some members of the county commission say they believe there should be more consistency in the speed limits established for county roads.