Speeding appears to be an issue all over Patterson and the city needs to do a better job with maintenance.
Those two concerns were raised by residents during public participation at last Thursday’s meeting of the Patterson City Council.
Residents Earl “Frog” Echols and Ray Douberly addressed the council about speeding concerns on Peach Avenue and Gardner Streets. Douberly also asked the council to clean up Patterson, noting several unkempt items in town.
Echols, a former state senator, said traffic races between Tyre Bridge Road and Main Street (Georgia Highway 32) near his home.
“They come up to the stop sign and look back toward Alma. If there is a car coming, they gun it to get across so they won’t have to stop at the stop sign,” said Echols.
Echols said motorists in vehicles and on four wheelers regularly speed down the road at more than 50 miles an hour, trying to beat traffic across Highway 32.
Echols asked for speed bumps to be installed on Peach Avenue to slow traffic down.
Douberly said Gardner Street between Thomas Street, Peach Avenue, The Walkerville Road and U.S. Highway 84 was also having problems with speeders through the neighborhood.
Douberly stopped short of calling for speed bumps, but did ask for something to be done to address the situation.
He also noted large trucks were passing through the neighborhood causing ruts in the lawns in the area because the vehicles are too wide for the roadway.
Douberly also expressed his opposition to plans to make Second Avenue an access road to Patterson Elementary. The city had earlier announced plans to improve Second Avenue as a way to ease traffic back up on U.S. Highway 84 near the school zone.
Finally, Douberly said he wanted Patterson to take pride in their town.
He asked that the city’s sidewalks be cleaned, edged and maintained, the city’s street signs be replaced, the city’s stop signs be straightened and the city be generally cleaned-up.
Mayor Dedi Thomas announced all of the issues would be addressed in a work session planned for 4:30 p.m. tomorrow, Thursday, August 21, at Eagle Station.
