Community shares speeding scares

A number of Creston residents shared fears regarding speeding around Prairie Street and Crest Drive via email, prompting a discussion Tuesday regarding solutions.

Worries revolved around the safety of young children living or attending daycare in the area, with no stop sign being found on the entirety of Crest Drive.

“There has been a major uptick in speeding on and around Crest Drive,” Sarah Stephens wrote. “I am very concerned for the safety of my children who are now playing outside every day. A stop sign at each end of our road would potentially help but any other things that you [think] can help this huge safety concern are much appreciated.”

Another resident specified the main perpetrators seemed to be teen drivers leaving or arriving at school.

“Every day there is someone new that is speeding through here, whether it be a kid leaving the high school taking a shortcut to Casey’s, young kids racing to beat their friends by taking a shortcut to Sumner or someone just visiting someone who lives on this street,” Korie Woollums wrote. “We have many younger kids who play in this area, and I am afraid one of them is going to get severely hurt because people use it as a mini racetrack.”

When the council began their discussion, an attendee shared that the worst times were “before school and after school ... and we see it every day.”

Creston Police Chief Paul Ver Meer said speeding in that area of town has been an issue since the school moved to Townline Street.

“It’s obviously a problem. We’ve also had the same thing on Sycamore [and Spruce],” Ver Meer said. “If you talk to anyone else in the city or school, they’ll say the same thing. Kids getting out of lunch, kids getting out of classes, kids going to classes. We’ve set up on Spruce before. We write tickets, but as soon as we stop, it’ll go back again. It’ll only stop for a while.”

Mayor Waylon Clayton proposed adding a stop sign at both ends of Crest Drive, as well as a speed limit sign going both ways to curb speeding.

While the council generally approved of this idea, no action could be taken due to a lack of possible action on the agenda. Council members plan to vote on the issue at the June 3 meeting.

In other council news...

The council fast-tracked the approval of rate changes for sewer services following no community input at the public hearing. The monthly usage rate will increase 10%, from $5.23 to $5.75 per 100 cubic feet, due to higher than expected costs in a state-mandated wastewater improvement plan.

James Hymbaugh was approved to join the Board of Adjustment Commission, bringing the board back to a full five members.