By Mindy Ragan Wood
Staff Writer
In an effort to deter heavy oilfield trucks from a section of Piedmont Road, city council members voted to drop the speed limit.
Piedmont Road from 192nd to 248th will be reduced from 55 miles per hour to 45 mph, but Councilman Bobby Williamson joked he’d like to make it 35 mph.
Williamson said the road was not safe to drive at 55 mph. Piedmont Road had been shut down for repairs between 220th and 234th for repairs all day Monday.
“At night, on Sunday night, my wife can’t even take the kids to church down Piedmont Road when it rains because you can’t take the dirt roads, so you got to go the paved roads. And it’s too dangerous, it’s too dark. My motion is going to be lower it to 40 mph not until it gets fixed but from now on. That I believe would cut down on a lot of the industrialized traffic,” Williamson said.
The motion did not carry at 40 mph but was unanimously approved for 45 mph.
CITIZENS’ CONCERNS
A citizen, who did not state his name during the meeting, pointed out the oilfield truck drivers prefer to drive on roads at higher speed limits. Azalea Road’s speed limit is 55 mph, higher than Piedmont Road after the council voted to reduce to 45 mph.
“All I see is 55 mph just gives the oilfield trucks one more chance to beat it to death and create another nightmare,” he said. “When I saw this on the agenda, I said, ‘well great, they’re going to reduce the speed limit to 45 mph on Piedmont Road, well I would reduce it to 45 on Azalea.’ The issue is that road is getting beat to death. When I moved out here, I could walk across the road and not look in either direction. Now I can’t take my trash can to the end of the road without worrying about a semi running over me. They literally come off the side of the road there, driving in the dirt trying to miss potholes. My only suggestion until that road’s fixed, I’d reduce to 30 mph. I’d post the police up there with two stacks of ticket books and let them make some money.”
Councilman John Brown spoke about the large trucks coming through the city that are too heavy for the road conditions.
“I think they’re coming through Piedmont, not to places in Piedmont but I’m sure some of them are,” he said. “Kevan and I drove out there the other day and there was a huge piece of oilfield equipment on Cemetery Road that was over-size and overweight, with trucks in front and back of it, over-size and overweight going over bridges. This thing was at least 80,000 pounds.”
Brown agreed the road needed to be reduced to 40 mph on Piedmont Road and that “a lot of patching” would have to be done.
Williamson said he “by no means wanted to create a speed trap. If you’re speeding, you’re speeding but I would hope that the focus is on the industrial traffic that is just abusing the goodness of Piedmont coming through it.”
Mayor Kurt Mayabb pointed out that Piedmont had no road weight limits imposed on heavy truck traffic.
“There’s more than 25 semis an hour going down Piedmont Road 24 hours a day,” Mayabb said.
Council members agreed to consider weight limits on certain roads. Williamson said his focus on reducing the speed limit was to “push that (oilfield) traffic out peripherally to some of these other dirt section line roads going north and south.”
CITY BUSINESS
In other business the council approved a contract for $114,300 a bid to replace the culvert on 234th. The culvert became clogged with debris from the heavy rains.
Ron Cardwell, an engineer for Oklahoma County, recommended the city change the way it repairs potholes and purchase equipment to do it better.
City Manager Jason Orr said the city is looking to purchase equipment that would use heated material instead of cold patch material for more efficient pothole repairs.
Council members also approved an ordinance to specify violations inspectors should look for in connection with oil and gas wells. The inspection fee is $500 and with the new ordinance inspectors will look for tall grass, abandoned vehicles, and compromised equipment among other items. For well violations that fall under the purview of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, the inspector would notify the agency.
