CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. — A Chesterfield County woman is asking the county to address an issue of speeding in her neighborhood.
“It’s just a real dangerous situation,” said Gwenn Talbot, a resident of the Irongate neighborhood. She added she has lived there for 30 years and is concerned about the main road running through her community: Irongate Dr.
"Because it's a cut through. We have all these new subdivisions going up behind us," said Talbot. She added that the speed limit on the road is 25 mph, but many drivers much faster than that.
"And we have a lot of pedestrians and children that are being made to have to walk in a ditch line along the road because we don't have sidewalks, she added.
Gwenn Talbot
Talbot is asking the county to make Irongate Dr. an enhanced speed zone, which would mean an additional $200 fine for drivers caught speeding.
“I’m worried that a child is going to get hit,” said Talbot.
The county told CBS 6 that it is aware of the request and agrees that there is a speeding problem.
Chesterfield County Police Department Sergeant J.R. Lamb with the traffic section said that in a one-week analysis of the road, there were 38,700 vehicles that used it and 1,277, or about 3%, were going over 40 mph. He added that these stats are above-average compared with other residential roads.
In a statement provided to CBS6, Chesterfield County Transportation Director Jesse Smith said:
“Chesterfield County is aware of the request for an additional fine for speeding along Irongate Drive. We are currently working through the process adopted by the Commonwealth Transportation Board in 1999. Per item 3 under “County/Town Responsibilities,” the county has collected data along this road and concurs there is a speeding problem. The next step is to confirm community support for the increased penalty. This process could take several months. Right now, we are in the process of determining the best way to reach the residents in the area, whether through a survey or another medium. If the community does not support the increased penalty, we will be unable to move forward with the request.”
A county spokesperson added that they need to take the additional step of confirming community support because there is no homeowners association for Irongate, which could have sped up the process.
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