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To the Editor-
It is hard to believe what has happened since I wrote this letter a year ago:
“West River Drive was a place that hadn’t crossed my mind, but now it’s a racetrack, and the gentleman who died on March 5th of this year is an example of the speeding problem we face as a community. The news talks about how police are or will be addressing the problem, but it’s rare that I see police officers on these roads when I’m out and about. If you’re reading this, I am NOT endorsing Reasonable and Prudent. I’m making it clear that our roads in this area are becoming more and more of an unpoliced racetrack, and that one death due to speeding is one death too many.” Wednesday, August 9, 2023.
This week I finally realized that Stevens Point, Whiting, Plover and Portage County should officially remove the speed signs at the following locations:
- (West) Clark Street, Centerpoint Dr., Water St. and Main Street to the east side of town and back into town
- Business 51 from the north side of Stevens Point to the south side of Plover
- County Road HH from Highway 66 West to County Road R at the Commons
- Hoover Ave from Plover to Country Club Dr. and finally
- Stanley Street to Highway 66 East
All of these areas should now be marked “reasonable and prudent” because the traffic I see when driving in these areas has no problem driving as fast as they want. Even if I happen to go five (miles) too far, I still get passed and watch the vehicles that pass me move exceptionally quickly, so much so that they disappear from my sight on some of these roads. And these are civilians behind the wheel.
After I left my house, a police car appeared out of nowhere, followed me to County Road HH, and was at the bus garage by Ben Franklin as I turned onto Whiting Ave. It didn’t have its lights on, but it was definitely moving.
I also feel bad for the pedestrians and school children who have to cross these roads, especially the kids going to McDill, at the intersection at County Road HH. If a driver going through a light can activate the “slow down” light on the speed limit sign, that’s a problem. County Road HH is a race track from 66 to at least the I-39 on-ramp.
If the police are not forced to slow these people down in these busy areas, then they should be sensible and cautious and let the sheer stupidity and recklessness of these drivers who don’t think it’s necessary to obey the speed limit be their downfall by either killing someone or themselves. It just disgusts me because it’s happening more and more every day.
The other problem I see almost every time I’m on Centerpoint Dr. is drivers ignoring the stop sign on First St. and thinking it’s a merging lane onto Water St. I can’t even count the number of times I’ve had to stop abruptly because drivers weren’t paying attention and just ignored the stop sign and drove into my lane. Is the stop sign not big enough?
I am writing this letter out of frustration because these incidents seem to be happening more frequently each time I come into town. Drivers treat these four-lane stretches of road as if they were driving on the Interstate or Highway 10.
I don’t know if there is a community-wide plan to slow traffic and pay attention to signs at major intersections, but as someone who travels in these areas frequently, I don’t want to know what would happen if a careless, speeding, or inattentive driver hit me on the road.
Cash Cooke
Linwood
