JASPER, Tenn. - Speed limits in some of Jasper's residential areas could be changing soon.
At the November meeting of the Jasper Board of Mayor and Aldermen, Mayor Paul Evans said all speed limits in the town are 30 mph unless posted differently.
He asked if the board would consider changing that to 15 mph.
"We've got streets up in Gamble Subdivision that should not be 30 miles per hour," Evans said.
City Attorney Mark Raines said some of those speed limit standards were established in conjunction with the Tennessee Department of Transportation years ago.
Jasper could do a road study with the police department to identify specific problem areas, he said, and then the board could address speed limit issues on "a case-by-case basis."
"If you just apply 15 miles per hour through the whole town, that takes in a lot of roads," Raines said. "There are some roads that probably don't need to be 15 miles per hour."
Police Chief Billy Mason said city officers typically give a "grace" above the speed limit that "depends on where you're at."
"Normally, if you're running 30 miles per hour out here on Betsy Pack Drive and there's no school zone, we give a grace up to a certain mile an hour," he said.
Evans said his concern is mostly focused on streets in Gamble Subdivision where many Jasper residents live, but some other residential areas should have their speed limits lowered, too.
"That's where all the complaints are coming," he said. "They're coming from Gamble Subdivision. To me, [many of those streets] should not be 30 miles per hour."
Mason said the board could order Jasper's police to strictly enforce limits in places like Gamble Subdivision, because there are no posted speed limits in most residential areas in Jasper.
"Years ago, this same thing came up, and they [former city leaders] thought the solution was putting more stop signs," he said. "That didn't help a bit. They [drivers] just run 50 miles per hour to the next one."
As a Marion County Sessions Court judge, Raines said he constantly comes across defendants who say they didn't know what the speed limit was in a particular area because it wasn't posted.
"That's not necessarily an excuse, but I think it would be a whole lot better if we post a sign," he said. "Then people don't really have any argument if they drive by the sign."
Raines said he would work with Mason to examine the issue and come back to the board with a recommendation at its Dec. 12 meeting.
Ryan Lewis is based in Marion County. Contact him at ryanlewis34@gmail.com.