The speed limit on this stretch of Vance Street was reduced from 35 mph to 20 mph following concerns by Dr. Paul Viser, whose Sampson Partners is heavily invested in the soon-to-be-dedicated ArtWorks at 306 Vance St.
Move toward safety as wave of reductions continues
A move aimed at increasing safety along Vance Street has been made with the installation of speed limit signs officially reducing the posted limit from 35 miles per hour to 20 mph.
Dr. Paul Viser, president of Sampson Partners, approached city planning staff last year concerning the high speed of motorists down Vance Street in the block where ArtWorks of Sampson Inc. has undertaken a sizable construction project, specifically at 306 Vance St.
The top-to-bottom re-build is a $350,000 outreach project of Sampson Partners. ArtWorks, its its own stand-alone nonprofit organization, aims to grow and nurture art prowess in Sampson County and offer classes, space and a gallery to do just that. ArtWorks will be dedicated next month.
“We’re fixing up this building on Vance Street and that is a challenging part of downtown,” Viser told the mayor and Clinton City Council at its recent April meeting. “You won’t have to stand there long before you see, it’s like an aircraft carrier turning off Beaman. By the time they hit our building, they’re putting out the chute to stop in time for the light.”
A three-way stop was initially proposed at the intersection of Vance Street and Fisher Drive to alleviate some of the traffic issues at the intersection, and slow motorists down somewhat. City planning director Mary Rose pointed to that proposal as a potential solution for fast-moving vehicles.
She said there is already a stop sign at Fisher Drive, and suggested stop signs be placed in front of both Sampson Building Supply and the Vance Street Park sides of the street for Vance Street traffic.
“All cars would stop there and make sure everything is safe before crossing the intersection, and would potentially slow traffic,” Rose remarked.
Mayor Lew Starling expressed some concerns with putting stop signs at that intersection, saying there might be congestion that comes as a result and noting a lack of an official traffic study, or wreck statistics, that would necessitate such a change.
Councilman Daniel Ruggles said he could see the point of getting people to slow down on Vance to further ensure safety, similar to the stop signs erected previously on Stewart Avenue, when the dance studio is located there as well as Weeks & Associates, ArtWorks, Tickled Pink and others along Vance.
“The difference in Stewart Avenue was that was a long distance this is a very short distance,” said Starling, noting the length from the Fisher Drive and Vance intersections to the stop light in downtown one direction, and the Beaman intersection the other direction.
Clinton Police Chief Anthony Davis said the speed limit is currently 35 mph on that section of Vance Street. He said a speed study was conducted in that area, but there was no crash data to “support” the three-way stop.
“It is a downstretch there so you do have probably less than 5% (of motorists) speeding coming down the hill there, according to the speed data,” said Davis.
Councilman Neal Strickland said he felt it was a good idea to slow traffic through that section of Vance, but asked about any solutions other than stop signs. Through a bit of discussion, Council came to an alternate resolution — a speed reduction.
“I don’t think there’s one scintilla of evidence that there’s been any accidents here,” said Starling. “I think Dr. Viser brings up a good point that they’re probably moving too fast; we have the ability to stop that. We have the ability to move that down to 20 miles per hour. If it’s a city street, we can do that. I’m concerned about backing up traffic with another stop (sign).”
The Council has taken similar action in and around the downtown in recent months to slow the pace of vehicles coming in and out of the downtown area. A resolution was passed by the Clinton City Council at the beginning of this year to reduce the speed limit on College Street entering the downtown area from 35 miles per hour to 25 miles per hour.
Davis said he is still awaiting confirmation from the state for that change, but that was imminent.
With new businesses continuing to plant roots in downtown Clinton, that move was also somewhat preemptive in nature, with Davis saying earlier this year that, with an anticipated increase in foot traffic, “we’d rather be ahead of it.” Those actions would be safer for pedestrians and drivers alike while also making the rules of the road as straightforward as possible, local officials said.
“It’s difficult to quantify the inhospitable environment on Vance Street,” said Viser, speaking again to his concerns on Vance Street. “On that section of Vance Street, on both sides of the street, there has not been a substantial investment in any of those buildings (since 1990). It’s a challenging area and you have to have some guts to put $350,000 on the line. Certainly, hard data comes from deaths and accidents, but an environment that is not hospitable is not so readily quantified.”
Viser said there are four doors that enter into ArtWorks, and he said he fully expects the main door to be opening into the alley. The May 2 dedication will also likely not be held on the Vance Street side of the structure, because it is unsafe, Viser noted.
“It is a little strange that we’re doing all this on Vance Street but we’re still a little fearful of that location,” he remarked. “It’s been enough to scare investors away for the entire time I’ve been in Clinton. Nobody has stepped up to invest in these buildings because it’s challenging.”
Starling asked what Viser thought of reducing the speed and gauging the effects of that move.
“At the very least, I would love to see that,” Viser replied. “I had no idea it was 35 (mph). That would be death-defying to actually be 35 mph to be in front of our building.”
Davis said he recommended, should a speed limit reduction be enacted, that it be 20 mph to match Elizabeth Street. A motion was made, and unanimously approved, for the 20 mph limit on Vance Street. Additionally, that the street be blocked off for the May 2 dedication of ArtWorks from an hour before the event to an hour after.
“If it doesn’t work, then we’ll come back and revisit it,” said Starling. “Surely 20 (mph) will do it, but I don’t know that.”