Vulcan residents are concerned about speed limit signs removed
VULCAN -- Ed Rizzi has lived on Hamilton Lake Road in Vulcan for most of his life. The road has been a 25 miles per hour speed zone as long as he can remember until two weeks ago when the signs were removed. Now that those speed limits have been removed from his road, Rizzi is taking extra precautions for his family, including 21 grandchildren.
"We have a park that's about half a mile away from here and the only access to it is by the road,” said Rizzi. “I won't let them go to the park anymore because the speed limit is too fast. There's no place for them to get off the road, and I mean if they're riding the bike, there's no shoulder. It's bad."
The state police are reevaluating many county roads with lower speed limits and determining if a higher speed limit may be appropriate.
"We are trying to eliminate speed traps," said Michigan State Police Trooper Brad Lammi. “If we've got 85 percent or 55 percent of motorists that are going over the speed limit, then that's usually not a good speed limit."
But Rizzi and other residents are frustrated by the change, and they want some answers.
"We have one major question, too: how did this come about?” Rizzi said. “How did we actually come to have someone take the signs down and what was the reasoning?”
According to the State Police, if a speed limit sign is removed and not replaced, the speed limit automatically becomes 55. There is a chance that a speed study can be done to potentially lower speed limits.