May 2, 2022
By: Dwayne Page
The speed limit may soon be changed from 30 to 45 miles per hour on Highway 56 (North Congress Boulevard) between Church Street (near the Police Department Building) and where the turn lane ends near the Northside Church of Christ.
During Monday night ‘s regular monthly meeting the aldermen adopted an ordinance to change the speed limit there based on a traffic study by the Tennessee Department of Transportation. Second and final reading action will be scheduled following a public hearing at the next city council meeting in June.
Mayor Josh Miller said Alan Wolfe, Regional Traffic Engineer at TDOT sent him a letter with the recommendation after the study was completed.
“I was asked to call the state six weeks ago about doing a speed study on Highway 56 in the city limits. Mr. Alan Wolfe of TDOT did the study and this was his response.
Reading from Wolfe’s letter, Mayor Miller said” “We have completed our speed study for this section of State Route 56 in Smithville. Based on the results of the study we recommend the speed limit remain 30 miles per hour from Highway 70 to just north of the State Route 56 intersection at Church Street. From north of Church Street we recommend raising the speed limit to 45 miles per hour all the way to the existing 45 mile per hour speed zone where the turn lane ends just north of the Northside Church of Christ”.
A speed limit of 25 miles per hour will still be enforced in the school zone mornings and afternoons at Northside Elementary School.