The Georgia Department of Transportation has conducted a review and made recommendations for improvements on Tyre Bridge Road in Patterson.
Mayor Dedi Thomas and Police Chief Nick Strickland gave a report on the GDOT review at Patterson’s monthly city council meeting last Thursday.
Thomas and Strickland updated citizens about efforts to improve safety on Tyre Bridge Road.
Residents Ala Mae Myles and Pam Foster were the only residents to attend last week’s meeting. In previous months, the gallery was filled with residents from the Tyre Bridge neighborhood.
Residents of the community have repeatedly expressed concerns about speeding and safety issues in the neighborhood in recent years.
They say the concerns are more urgent following the death of a young child there recently.
Logan Sharpe, 7, was killed when he was struck by a vehicle on Tyre Bridge Road May 19.
Thomas and Strickland reported the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) had conducted a review of Tyre Bridge Road and recommended installing rumble strips, installing larger stop signs and stop ahead warning signs and striping double lines on the roadway.
Council member David Smith was not in favor of rumble strips.
“You would be able to hear them all over town and people would complain about that,” he said.
Myles said she did not mind the noise if it would cause people to slow down.
GDOT did not recommend installing speed bumps citing liability issues related to possible damage to vehicles. GDOT also recommended the speed limit remain at 35 m.p.h. and not be lowered to maintain enforcement efforts.
Strickland said the speed limit requirement is related to the city’s ability to run speed detection devices and issue citations.
The chief said he thought issues with safety were not related to speed, but other factors. He cited driving under the influence as the cause of an accident where an impaired driver collided with a house on Tyre Bridge Road in recent years.
Strickland told Myles GDOT recommended the installation of guard rails at the drainage canal at the corner of Smiley Street and Tyre Bridge Road.
Myles has long asked for the installation of a guard rail there.
In response to resident requests about improved sidewalks, GDOT says the current sidewalks are in compliance with their specifications.
Last month, the city installed two more “slow, children at play signs” and installed more detour signs for the road closure for bridge construction at the 60 Foot Creek Bridge by the Edward “Bud” Newton Community Center.
