Residents call for enforcement as Dalton Gardens sets lower speed limit
A Kootenai County sheriff's deputy was parked along 15th Street in Dalton Gardens on Thursday to monitor for speeding drivers.
HAILEY HILL/Press
DALTON GARDENS — Drivers will need to slow down or risk getting a ticket after the City Council unanimously approved a reduction of the city’s statutory speed limit from 35 to 25 mph Wednesday night.
The ordinance, which is set to go into effect “upon publication of [the] summary,” will codify the 25-mph speed limit, meaning tickets administered to those caught speeding will stand.
Enforcement has been difficult in the past due to Idaho's statutory 35 mph speed limit for residential, business and urban districts, set by Idaho Code 49-654.
Many residents voiced their concerns about lack of enforcement during public comment Wednesday night.
“They just don’t enforce the speed limit,” said Dalton Gardens resident Barry Price. “So what difference does it make?”
Price told the council that he regularly sees students from the nearby high school driving “50 to 55 miles an hour” by his Davenport Street home. Price also said he believes people use the residential streets to avoid the traffic of major thoroughfares such as Fourth Street.
Dalton Gardens resident Kathy Edlund expressed similar concerns about enforcement.
“I’m very happy to see this is being addressed ... I see drivers excessively exceeding the speed limit on a daily basis,” Edlund said. “The issue is the lack of enforcement at the current limit.”
Edlund added that residents on her street must cross the busy roadway to access their mailboxes, and the road is frequented by pedestrians, children playing and wildlife.
Mayor Curt Jernigan assured residents that the new ordinance will allow for officers to enforce the speed limit more effectively.
“One of the reasons we’re trying to pass an affirming ordinance is so that it can be enforced,” Jernigan said.