Residents Press Council on Dangerous Speeding, City Plans Radar Sign and Enforcement

Three Simpsonville residents told the City Council at the meeting that speeding and heavy-truck traffic on West Georgia Drive outside the Oak Park neighborhood were creating safety and quality-of-life problems.

The complaints came during public comment from Mike Wyatt, Joseph Nuna and Christine Nuno, who said drivers routinely exceed the posted 25 mph limit, that big trucks create vibrations and noise in nearby homes, and that sight lines when leaving the neighborhood make crossings dangerous.

“The 25 mile an hour speed limit zone in front of our neighborhood … it's not unusual to see most cars doing, in excess of twice that much,” Mike Wyatt said. “I work from home all day and I have to wear noise cancelling headphones all day long just to … filter out the truck.”

City police and staff told council members they are limited in what they can change directly. Chief Pantle said the department can ticket illegal vehicle lighting and allocate enforcement resources where possible, but the posted speed limit on the roadway is set by the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT). “We can enforce speeding if we're able to allocate resources to that, but we cannot change the speed limit,” a city official said during the meeting.

To address speeding, council and staff said the city has ordered a radar speed display that will be installed on the curved section of West Georgia near Maple. The display will flash drivers’ speeds and is expected to be deployed after public-works scheduling. Staff also said SCDOT has proposed a pedestrian crossing option; if SCDOT grants permission, the city will need to identify funding to install it.

Council and staff discussed pavement work scheduled for the strip of West Georgia where residents complained. Staff said a patching and resurfacing plan is expected once temperatures allow and that resurfacing may reduce some of the truck-bump noise but will not, by itself, reduce speeding.

Public safety staffing and enforcement capacity were also raised. Council members noted six open police positions; the police representative said hiring and testing are underway and the department is prioritizing resource allocations for problem locations.

Residents asked for immediate changes such as stop signs and mirrors at the neighborhood entrance; staff and police said those changes require engineering review and interagency approvals when the street is SCDOT-controlled. The city advised residents that short-term mitigation will focus on enforcement and the radar sign while staff pursue design and funding for any physical changes.

The council did not take formal action on the item during the meeting; staff said they would continue coordination with SCDOT and public works and return to council with updates.

The public comments and staff responses appear during the public-comment and departmental-report portions of the meeting, and the city indicated next steps would include installation of the radar speed sign and further contact with SCDOT about a pedestrian crossing.