Speeding on Raintree Drive, a collector street in the Village of Duval, sparked a disagreement Tuesday between residents and Sumter County officials over the need for a speed limit sign.
At a county board meeting, residents told commissioners they believe a speed limit sign would help slow traffic. County Administrator Bradley Arnold said a sign is not needed.
“We don’t want a bridge, we don’t want speed bumps, we don’t want a tunnel,” said Duval resident Patricia Knott. “We just want a sign.”
Knott presented a petition signed by 34 residents near Raintree supporting a sign.
She said nine other nearby residential streets that meet Odell Circle have 15 mph speed limit signs.
“These neighborhoods all have signs and we don’t,” Knott said. “It’ll be a lot less expensive than having the sheriff’s (office) there all the time.”
Resident Nancy Doggett said many speeding vehicles seem to be work and delivery trucks.
If the county can’t put up a speed limit sign, she wondered whether a “Caution: Blind Person” sign could be put up because she said a blind woman often walks along the street. Handicapped people with scooters also use Raintree.
Commissioner Garry Breeden said he agreed with the residents that a sign might be warranted.
“If all these other signs were posted, then we’re not being consistent,” he said.
But Arnold said a sign is not needed.
He said the speed limit on Raintree is 20 mph, not 15 mph as on the other streets. Signs throughout The Villages inform motorists that the speed limit is 20 mph unless otherwise posted.
A sheriff’s office study of traffic in November and earlier this month found that 85 percent of the Raintree traffic was within 5 mph of the speed limit, Arnold said. The study was based on speeds registered by a portable flashing speed sign.
Arnold said a 15 mph limit also isn’t needed because the road is straight and has greater driveway spacing that the other streets.
Commissioner Doug Gilpin said speeding is a broader issue than Raintree Drive.
“There’s no question that speeding is an issue throughout The Villages,” he said. “We do need to ask people to slow down and be considerate drivers.”
