Speed limits have been restored to 35 mph on Sgt. John A. Pittman Drive following a flurry of activity on the part of city leaders and outraged residents.
Greenwood Mayor Carolyn McAdams said she rescinded the lower speed limit on the two-lane thoroughfare Tuesday morning after talking with the state Attorney General’s office.
“We can’t just change speed limits. We have to have an engineer to come in and review our speed limits, and the council has to vote on it,” McAdams said.
Earlier, Greenwood Police Chief Henry Purnell said he had ordered the lowering of the posted speed from 35 to 25 mph. The speed limits near Martin Luther King Drive and Avenue I were also lowered to 25, the chief said.
Speed limits on Bowie Lane also were to be lowered from 35 to 25 mph this week, he said.
Purnell said Friday that he acted on his authority as police chief, citing concern for children’s safety. He said he was in the process of reviewing speed limits all over town, including heavily traveled corridors such as West Park Avenue and Grand Boulevard.
Section 63-3-511 of the Mississippi Code specifies what local authorities must do before speed limits can be changed.
Purnell could not be reached for comment this morning.
McAdams said she knew about the placement of the stop signs but not about the speed limits also being reduced.
At the intersection of Avenue I and Martin Luther King Drive, a four-way stop has already been installed. The chief ordered a three-way stop at the intersection of Pittman and Yalobusha Street.
Stop signs have also been placed at Montgomery Street and Saffold Avenue in North Greenwood.
Ward 1’s Johnny Jennings said the lower speed limits — posted without advance notice or consent of the City Council — blindsided him.
Jennings represents residents who live near Pittman Drive.
“This was just kind of thrown up. I’d like to have it come up at the council,” he said.
Jennings signed an online petition sent out by John Coleman. Coleman said Tuesday afternoon the petition had received 20 resident signatures since Sunday night — 19 of them by Monday morning.
Jennings said the timing of the lowered speed limits is “suspicious,” coming just a month before the general election on June 4.
“I’ve been down at the council for 20 years. It seems like in the past it seems like it was the mayor’s call,” he said.
He said the intent of Pittman Drive was to serve as a bypass to Park Avenue, the busiest commercial artery in the city. Lowering the speed limit on the road “makes about as much sense as building a ski resort in Tutwiler,” Jennings said.
He said the only place he’d recommend the speed limit be lowered of Pittman Drive would be in the immediate area near North New Summit School.
Jennings, a longtime opponent of speed bumps, said the city should use hand-held radar guns to discourage speeders and not penalize those who obey the posted speed.
“We need to start enforcing the law rather than advertising the law,” he said.
City Council President Ronnie Stevenson said he had had only one complaint about the speed limit changes, but he said it doesn’t help to first learn about it in the Commonwealth.
Stevenson said he isn’t sure why Purnell would undertake such a citywide review of speed limits, adding, “I wish he had told us about it. Normally, you have a reason.”
Stevenson’s expanded ward for the May 7 Democratic primary includes the intersection of Montgomery and Saffold. Regardless of what the reasons for the stop signs are, the council members are the first people citizens will call, he said.
“My feelings on this is, if it’s not broke, don’t fix it,” Stevenson said.
For Coleman, who learned of the speed limits being raised, it was a civics lesson.
“Democracy still works, even for little things,” he said.
• Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
