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Residents ask Alfalfa County to install "Slow Children" signs on County Road 740
Summary
Public commenters asked the board to place two 'Slow Children' or reduced-speed signs on County Road 740, saying drivers — including semis — travel too fast near homes where children play; county staff said the posted speed is 45 mph and that speed reductions require a separate process but signage may be possible without flashing lights.
Residents at a public-comment period asked the Alfalfa County Board of Commissioners to install two “Slow Children” or reduced-speed signs along County Road 740 to slow traffic near two family homes where children play.
The request, raised during the meeting, asked for one sign before the house identified in comments as "Sally's" and a second sign roughly a half-mile farther down near a property described as the Baldwin place. Commenters requested lowering the posted speed limit to 35 mph and adding flashing signs; they said drivers, including semitrailer trucks, travel the road “extremely fast” and there have been near head-on collisions at a curve.
County staff replied that the road’s posted speed is set at 45 mph and that the board cannot immediately reduce the legal speed limit during that discussion. A county official said slow-children signage could be considered but indicated flashing signs would not be provided as part of an immediate action.
The residents pressed for expedited help, saying they had contacted drivers’ families when reckless driving occurred and asked the board to act to prevent a child being injured. One public commenter said, “We want 1 placed before you get to Sally's house” and later, “We've got to reduce it to 35 or someone's gonna be a kid,” while a county official responded, “You can't reduce the speed on the road. It's set at 45.”
The transcript records no formal motion or vote on signage or speed change during the meeting. The board did not commit a timetable or funding source for installing signs in the meeting record.
If the board decides to pursue signage or a speed limit change, the matter would follow county traffic-control procedures and any applicable county or state review before a change in the posted speed or installation of traffic-control devices.
