ATLAS: A lower speed limit won’t work

While I can certainly sympathize with the writer regarding lowering the speed limit on Atlas from 35 to 25, I would like to make these comments. There are many streets in Coeur d’Alene, Hayden, Post Falls and Rathdrum that have a 35 mph speed limit in a residential area. When constructing these roads, thoughtful planners have provided grassy swales as a buffer zone. Consider Prairie, for example. My parents lived on Prairie Avenue many years ago when it was a two-lane road between CDA and Post Falls. Today, it’s a four-lane thoroughfare with a speed limit of 45. Life does change, and we have to change with it. Whether it is noise from trains, planes or automobiles, we live in an age where noise is a factor, and slowing the speed down on just one road will not address that issue. There may be other ways to buffer sound, such as planting more hedge rows or addressing mufflers on vehicles, but a low speed limit will not help traffic flow in the long run.

K. JOHNSON

Rathdrum