Amador County – After public persuasion Tuesday, the Amador County Board of Supervisors decided not to change the speed limit on Consolation Street in Volcano.

A traffic study determined the speed limit should be 35 mph on Consolation Street, but could be lowered to 30 mph. County Chief Administrative Officer Chuck Iley said the issue was whether it would be an “enforceable” speed limit for the California Highway Patrol, through use of a radar gun. He said leaving the speed limit at 25 mph would in effect make it unenforceable by CHP using radar.

The board voted to keep the speed limit the same after a “great confirmation among” the public in attendance, who asked that the speed limit be left the same.

Iley said the “speed study showed that the speed should be raised to 30 mph,” and “CHP would not enforce it without a speed study.” Since they kept it at 25 mph, based on radar, CHP cannot write tickets, but they “can write a ticket for traveling too fast for the circumstances.” Iley said Sheriff’s enforcement of the speed limit on Consolation Street was not brought up during the meeting.

Many Volcano residents spoke in support of keeping it the same. They also wanted a larger CHP presence, and thought people were going too fast on the road. Iley said Amador County staff had already decided to place a stop sign at Main and Consolation Streets. Some people in attendance asked for a second stop sign, with requests for a sign at either Consolation and Plug streets, or Consolation and Church Streets.

After discussion, the Board said it would go with just the one stop sign for now.

Stantec Consulting senior project engineer Roger Stuart in a Feb. 18 letter said the traffic study showed that the “current speed limit for Consolation Street is not consistent with the process outlined in California’s Speed Trap legislation, which dictates the procedures the county must follow to set or retain speed limits.”

Stuart said “speed zones unenforceable by radar are difficult to manage,” and “violation of the existing 25 mph zone will continue to be widespread.” He said “a large portion of speeding tickets may be appealed to the court, resulting in time loss from traffic enforcement. In some cases, courts have ordered local agencies to raise speed limits or discontinue all enforcement.”

“Unrealistically low speed zones also have unintended effects by increasing the variation in speeds,” Stuart said, and “it is generally accepted that posting a speed zone in compliance with the state law and nationally accepted procedure will result in the safest speed zone for roadway conditions.”

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.