KATC is Getting Answers about the speed limit in an area where a number of cars have crashed into homes.
Residents along E Martial Avenue asked us when will LCG lower the speed limit on that road. We’ve learned LCG is working to fix the issue.
Right now, the posted speed limit is 40 MPH. Residents say, it’s common not only to see cars blowing by, but to hear them as well.
“Man, it’s scary with having kids with fast cars passing by,” said Matthew Melancon. “You never know what’s going to happen.”
Back in February, we met Melancon and several of his neighbors after a car crashed through a home. Though speed was not a factor in that crash, those we talked to said they’ve been trying for a while to get the speed limit lowered.
In February, KATC called Lafayette Consolidated Government to ask about the speed limit.
Today, the city says they’re lowering it from 40 MPH to 35 MPH.
“So what we do is basically collect the traveling speed of vehicles along the roadway. We then look at that data and set a reasonable speed limit,” said Lafayette City-Parish Transportation Engineer Warren Abadie.
Melancon said, “It’s not much, but it does make a difference on the speeding and control of a vehicle. Just five miles per hour makes a big difference.”
Abadie said typically when they get a request to review a speed limit, they collect data on 100 cars traveling in each direction.
“We do it by request. If someone requests a speed limit change, we can study it and we do it if we see a speed limit that needs to be evaluated. We can do that too,” said Abadie.
The city says it could be a few more weeks until these speed limit signs are changed.
