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Residents urge county and Florence to act on Orleans Boulevard safety as officials schedule joint review
Summary
Residents told Boone County Fiscal Court the Orleans Boulevard corridor is overloaded and dangerous, citing speed, volume and close calls at school bus stops; county staff and the sheriff’s office pledged joint work with the city of Florence and the Traffic Safety Committee and invited the public to a transportation-plan event April 22.
Trevor Nelson, a resident of 8390 Orleans Boulevard, told the Boone County Fiscal Court on March 11 that long‑standing traffic and speeding problems on Orleans Boulevard and the nearby ‘Little Orleans’ neighborhood have become a safety crisis for families and schoolchildren. Nelson said he has discussed the issue with Florence’s public services staff and cited a daily volume figure of 3,000 cars and that “85% of the traffic in Orleans Boulevard is going at least 10 miles per hour over the speed limit.”
Nelson recommended re‑aligning Long Branch to connect directly to U.S. 42 or Bowman Way to divert through traffic from neighborhood streets and shorten emergency response routes. “If they were able to go directly from 42 right onto Long Branch, that would literally cut off a minute’s worth of time to get to all of these other neighborhoods,” he said.
Multiple residents and a school bus driver backed Nelson’s account, describing near‑misses and repeated stop‑arm violations. Bus driver Terry Rainier said he routinely sees drivers ignore his stop arm and has had to alter pick‑up procedures to protect children. Resident Nav Kang said mailboxes have been repeatedly struck and that many drivers exceed the speed limit by 10–12 mph, with some traveling as fast as 70 mph.
County staff said the problem is multi‑jurisdictional — Orleans Boulevard runs inside Florence city limits while much of the traffic originates outside the city — and officials urged coordination. The judge’s office and the sheriff’s office said they would reach out to Florence traffic staff to arrange joint discussions with the county Traffic Safety Committee and county engineering staff.
Rob Franksman, the county engineer, noted the county will pursue near‑term traffic‑calming options through the Traffic Safety Committee while longer projects remain part of the county transportation plan update. The court announced a public transportation‑plan open house scheduled for April 22 from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Boone County Extension Center to gather input on road projects and priorities.
The court did not adopt new traffic ordinances at the meeting; officials said they will explore short‑term measures — stepped‑up enforcement, unmarked patrols, traffic cameras, stop signage and other calming techniques — and report back on enforcement metrics following coordination with Florence.
Next steps: staff will coordinate a joint meeting with Florence traffic personnel and the county Traffic Safety Committee, increase targeted enforcement as feasible, and gather public input at the April 22 event.
