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Residents press Shenandoah council for traffic-calming on Grogans Mill; county controls corridor
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Summary
At a public hearing, residents urged flashing beacons, radar speed displays, portable calming devices and access to county-allocated Flock cameras to curb speeding on Grogans Mill; mayor and staff said the roadway is county-maintained and the city will coordinate with Precinct 2 and the county commissioner.
Residents and councilmembers told the Shenandoah City Council on March 25 that speeding and heavy traffic around Grogans Mill and Wellman create safety risks for pedestrians and neighborhood access.
Marie Wise (addressed in the meeting as "Miss Wise" when she took the podium) described attempts to engage the city and said she had submitted a neighborhood proposal. "We experience the speed racers going down Grogan's Mill. You try and get across that road and you're taking your life in your hands," she said.
Phil Boudreaux, speaking for Dulcemar Woods and nearby neighborhoods, urged proactive measures including flashing crosswalk lights and the allocation of a Flock camera to the neighborhood; he said sharing license-plate data with the sheriffs office could help with enforcement and general safety. "I don't want that to happen in our place. I want us to be ahead of it as best we can be," Boudreaux said.
The police chief clarified Flock-camera capabilities: "The Flock cameras collect license-plate information," the chief said during council remarks, "but as far as tracking speed or anything, they do not do that." Council members and staff discussed other technologies such as Doppler radar devices and portable speed-display trailers, and noted that Grogan's Mill is a county-maintained roadway (Precinct 2). The mayor and several council members encouraged residents to bring survey results and personal testimony to the county commissioner's court to press for changes that require county approval.
Wes Stevens, a longtime resident and former mayor, recommended a three-part approach: awareness (radar/display signs), enforcement (more targeted patrols), and portable traffic-calming measures to test what works; he urged quicker action rather than waiting for the next budget cycle.
Next steps: City staff said they will continue outreach to Precinct 2 and the county commissioner, advertise upcoming community traffic meetings and expand survey outreach (paper flyers, signage at events) to broaden participation beyond the initial 129 responses received in five days. Council said it will return to the issue with more data and with county coordination.
