Police Chief Reports Elmer Street Traffic Flow Safe

said Monday that after monitoring Elmer Street during peak rush hours, no immediate action will be taken to pursue a there.

“There really isn’t that much traffic there at that time,” Payne said. “We do not believe there is excessive traffic there and it’s hard to maintain speed with the curve there.”

Elmer Street resident Cynthia Savvit attended Monday’s regular Council meeting to follow up on her earlier request to have officials examine the street. She had hoped that they might pursue lowering the speed limit from 25 miles per hour to 15 miles per hour.

She said almost 70 percent of residents on the street were in support of the idea.

“Tonight, I represent the property owners on Elmer Street and two on Dewey Street," she said at the meeting. “I came to see if any action has been taken since I was last here.”

Payne informed council and Savitt that in the last few weeks, he and other officers counted cars coming through Elmer Street during rush hours, which was a concern the resident had originally brought up. During the times the police department observed traffic on Elmer, 24 cars came down the street, with seven of those cars parking in the immediate area.

“We also monitored Walnut at the same time, and 291 vehicles came down that street during rush hour,” Payne said. “Looking at traffic patterns, Elmer does not appear to be used as a cut-through area.”

While Savitt had initially brought her concerns to council last year, she returned after a recent road rage accident occurred in the area. after a road rage incident at a nearby gas station. A suspect chased Johnny Johnson, 18, who also was shot in the thigh while driving, until Johnson crashed the car into a garage on Elmer Street.

“That particular accident was a part of a shooting,” Payne said, differentiating the incident from the speed limit issues.

While council and Payne will not take immediate action, he did say they will explore different options, including future signs, and continue to observe the area.

But before any changes could be made at all, council said a traffic study would have to be completed should they decide to do anything.

“We did find that traffic there is quite light in comparison to Walnut,” Payne said.

agreed with the chief.

“We’re not done with this yet, and we will still address this issue,” Hellett said.