Oconee County adopts permit updates after engineering study recommends 50 mph on Astondale Road

Oconee County commissioners on Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025, adopted updates to the county's speed-detection device permit after staff presented engineering summaries for multiple roads, including Astondale Road.

The county's transportation staff member Jody presented results of a May 2025 spot speed study and a five-year crash history for Astondale Road, a two-lane, undivided rural road in an agricultural and residential area. Jody said the study estimated an average daily traffic (ADT) of 842 vehicles, recorded an 85th percentile speed of 64 miles per hour and a 50th percentile speed of about 49.6 miles per hour, and found 26 crashes between Jan. 1, 2020 and Dec. 31, 2024, with roughly 10 possible or suspected injuries and no fatalities.

Jody said the Federal Highway Administration speed-estimation tool USLIMITS2 recommended a posted speed of 50 miles per hour for the study segment, and that the county's section crash rate and injury crash rate were above averages for similar roads. Jody noted the presence of local cyclists who use Astondale as a route and that the county has a roundabout project in right-of-way acquisition at the intersection of Colin Ferry and Astondale roads.

"Given the presence of vulnerable road users, the crash rate, the injury rate, [and] the USLIMITS2 recommendation, it is reasonable to reduce the speed limit to the fiftieth percentile speed of 50 miles per hour," Jody said.

Commissioners voted to adopt the proposed updates to the list of roads in the county's speed detection device permit as submitted. Staff said the narrative and study summaries will be included in the package submitted to the Georgia Department of Transportation as part of the permit update process.

The ordinance amendment considered at second reading updates the list of roads eligible for speed-detection enforcement under the county permit and attaches the engineering summaries for each evaluated segment. The Astondale Road summary included lane widths (10 feet), typical shoulder width (about 1–2 feet), and a breakdown of crash types (multiple single-vehicle run-off-road incidents and several angle crashes). Jody said the county recorded no crashes classified as involving speeds of 10–14 or 15+ miles per hour over the limit during the specific radar-sign deployment period reported earlier in the meeting.

The motion to adopt the updates carried on a voice vote. The adopted amendment will be sent to GDOT for inclusion in the county's permit documentation; any future change to posted speeds would proceed through applicable state review and local traffic-control processes.

The ordinance action was made during the Aug. 5, 2025 meeting of the Oconee County Board of Commissioners.

Ending: Commissioners did not receive public comment on the item during the meeting. Staff flagged that the same engineering study format was used for all roads evaluated and that the written summaries will accompany the county's permit update submission to the Georgia Department of Transportation.