SAN MARTIN
– The county has set new speed limits on three rural South
County roads and asked the California Highway Patrol to break out
the radar guns to crack down on speeders there.
SAN MARTIN – The county has set new speed limits on three rural South County roads and asked the California Highway Patrol to break out the radar guns to crack down on speeders there.
Supervisors have approved a proposal to set the speed limit on Buena Vista Avenue in north Gilroy at 45 mph between New Avenue and Monterey Road, and also passed a resolution asking the CHP to establish radar speed enforcement at the location.
Meanwhile, new speed limits of 35 mph will be enforced on portions of two two-lane rural roads in unincorporated Morgan Hill. The changes effect a stretch of Half Road between Condit and Peet roads that runs between Live Oak High School and the old Saint Louise Hospital site.
The new limit will also be in effect on Peet Road as it runs southward from Cochrane Road near Anderson Dam.
Previously, none of the roads had posted speed limits, said Sadegh Sadeghi, a senior civil engineer with the county’s Roads and Airports Department. Under the state’s Vehicle Code, that meant drivers could go a maximum of 55 mph unless law enforcement officials judged a driver’s conduct was unsafe or reckless.
The changes mean lower speed limits that are more concrete.
“Definitely it’s for safety, and in addition it was done at request of neighborhoods and residents in the area,” Sadeghi said of the changes. “We heard from some residents, the CHP, and looked at the area ourselves and realized more residents are moving in there.
“Once there are more residents in these areas, it brings our attention to look at it in a different way.”
Under a contract between the county and the state, the CHP is considered the main speed-enforcement agent on roadways in unincorporated parts of the county, according to a CHP spokesman.
The Gilroy CHP office concurred with the recommendations, and supervisors approved the changes at their Nov. 19 meeting. The new signs should be posted in coming weeks.
