Why 40 MPH

Why 40 MPH

My husband, Kevin and I built our custom home during 2015, just after we had our first child. We had the opportunity to build out in the country, on a few acres, adjacent to my parents, on a few more acres. As our family expanded, our first grew older and we added a second child. We found ourselves walking to the neighbors house, to nana and papas and just taking short walks on our dirt road. During this time we noticed that traffic on Elm Slough was fast, it was too fast. One day, when my children and I were almost hit by a vehicle who was trying to over correct, and another vehicle flew past a bus with the STOP sign out, I made a personal decision to fix the situation.

When I called the Sheriff to run radar on the road, he said he couldn’t do anything for those going 55 MPH as that was the speed limit. I was shocked! Our gravel is grated about once a week and there is typically quite a bit of loose rock on the road. Working with the Pottawatomie County Commissioners, I attended their virtual meetings for several months. After numerous studies were done, persistence from my part and additional solicited testimony from other residents who lived on our road, the Commissioners voted 2-1 to have the speed limit changed to 40 MPH. The summer of 2020 brought along a tremendous amount of personal challenges for our family, but this was a victory, a victory for not just myself, but a victory for our community.