INC NEWS - N&O: Speeding becomes problem on wider Guess Road

[Barry Ragin]

Speeding becomes problem on wider Guess Road

Residents' complaints prompt police to crack down on fast drivers, who 
say it seems like the five-lane road should have a higher speed limit

By STANLEY B. CHAMBERS JR, Staff Writer

Guess Road was a quiet road - once upon a time.

Impatient motorists were forced to drive the posted 35 mph speed limit 
inside the city limit by virtue of the slower traffic in front of them.

And it was safer to cross the street back then too, remembered Margaret 
Smith, who has lived on the road for about 45 years, back when it was 
just two lanes, most of it outside city limits.

Now the major north-south artery is a smooth, five-lane road that is 
attracting its share of speeders, according to police and residents. 
Faster cars pass slower ones with ease, sometimes at speeds 15 to 20 mph 
above the posted limit.

"Look at them fly," Smith said earlier this week while watching traffic 
zoom by from her backyard.

Apparently, a four-year widening project, completed last year from 
Carver Street north to Umstead Road, has given some motorists the false 
impression that Guess Road is a full-fledged highway, and thus worthy of 
highway speeds.

The situation has prompted complaints from residents and a crackdown on 
speeders by police. During a recent two-week span, police said, officers 
pulled more than 60 drivers for exceeding the speed limit.

Despite the stepped up enforcement, drivers continue to speed, police 
and Guess Road residents said this week.

Marc Crabtree won't let his three young children play in the front yard. 
He compared some Guess Road motorists to those on I-85, where the speed 
limit is at least 55 mph.

"...You never know when a car might lose control," he said recently 
while working on a truck next to his house.

Driving at the posted 35 mph speed limit on the new surface is tough, 
residents and motorists admit. The speed limit increases to 45 mph near 
the Willowdaile Shopping Center past Horton Road and goes up to 55 mph 
into the county. But inside city limits, the speed limit on Guess Road 
has been 35 mph for years and it's not likely to change, said Wesley 
Parham, the city's assistant transportation manager.

Because it is a state road, changing the speed limit on Guess would 
require approval from the city and the state. Parham doesn't think city 
or state officials would be inclined to change it.

"It is extremely unusual to get a request from anyone to raise a speed 
limit," Parham said. "Usually it's the other way around."

He said the 35-mph speed limit on Guess Road within the city limits is 
largely dictated by the profusion of commercial and residential 
properties, driveways and turn lanes in the medians.

The speed limit north of Horton Road is higher because traffic going in 
both directions is separated by a barrier, which accommodates higher 
speeds and creates less traffic conflicts.

The problem with speeders on Guess Road appears to be directly related 
to its new configuration, officials said.

"It wasn't a month [after construction was completed] that we started 
getting complaints from people trying to get out of their driveways," 
said Capt. Ed Sarvis, District Two commander for the Durham Police 
Department.

Citizen complaints have been less frequent since increased enforcement 
began, he said. What worries Sarvis most is when motorists are going 55 
mph or higher.

"Just about everybody I'm writing [tickets for], it's 20 miles and 
over," said Cpl. D.W. Horton with the police department's motorcycle unit.

He says ticketed motorists often say they were either on a cell phone or 
just not paying attention to the speed limit. Horton clocked one car at 
62 mph.

Motorists usually slow down after a police crackdown. Even then, 
officers still catch one speeder after another.

"We've seen such an alarming rate of speed on Guess Road that we're 
probably going to concentrate there a while longer," Horton warned.

Meanwhile, residents are worried that the race-like traffic will result 
in a bad accident.

Lisa Watson remembered when crossing the road wasn't so risky.

"It's not like it used to be," said Watson, 36, who has lived on Guess 
Road all her life. "Even the city buses come through flying."

Her father, Carl Griffin, said he has seen motorcyclists use the street 
like a racetrack.

"They boogie down here," he said.

Pamela Norris, who lives just off Guess Road, said if traffic isn't 
going at least 40 mph, "you'll get run over."

"It's pretty hard," she said. "I try to go 35 but its like a speedway 
out there a lot of times."

But Peggy Burnett, who has lived on Horton Road for 15 years, said 
motorists shouldn't be intimidated to speed by other drivers.

"If you do what you're supposed to do, you don't worry about how fast 
someone else is driving," she said. "You only worry about how you drive."

Staff writer Stanley B. Chambers Jr. can be reached at 956-2426 or 
stan.chambers at newsobserver.com.