City leaders in Harrison, Ark., discuss speeding solutions

HARRISON, Ark. (KY3) - City leaders in Harrison formed a new special committee to address speeding solutions.

Motivated by the work of the previous homelessness committee, Mayor Jerry Jackson says a large number of recent discussions with concerned residents led to the decision.

“The last three or four months, I’ve been walking around town meeting people, knocking on doors, and the one complaint I hear,” said Mayor Jackson. “Most people are tickled to death with what Harrison is doing, but speeding seems to be an issue. It seems to be an issue all through the town, not just one or two streets but little streets and even cul-de-sacs and stuff like that.”

Mayor Jackson says the committee will focus more on residential areas than main roads such as U.S. 65 and Main Street.

“I don’t know what to do, but I’ve learned from previous committees that if we put a group of maybe eight people together, they’ll come up with something. So, we’ve done that, and we’re waiting on results from them.”

Under the direction of city engineer Wade Phillips, the city is currently in the process of collecting data on the most speeding riddled areas using what has loosely been described as “undetectable radars.”

In the meantime, the city has already taken steps to ensure safety in some areas with heavy pedestrian traffic by installing speed bumps near the Cannon’s Cove Splashpad and Skyline Heights Elementary.

“We’ve almost been hit a couple of times, and there’s been a wreck. It’s been a little crazy,” Haley Bright told KY3 in August. “They speed through pretty bad. It’s a bunch of parents that are learning time management to get to school and work at 8 a.m.”

Bright lives by Skyline Heights. She has three children who walk to school there. She is pleased when the city adds speed bumps.

“It means a lot that they actually listen,” said Bright. “I’m a part of the PTA, and last year I just emailed and was just trying to get the word out. I actually took a picture with the men putting the speed bumps in because I was super excited.”

The city says those improvements have shown to be effective at helping slow down traffic, but more appropriate solutions will be looked at citywide.

“Those are needed in those areas, and you know we don’t want speed bumps all over town,” said Jackson. “But members of this committee will come back with suggests on things we can do to improve this citywide.”

Mayor Jackson says the committee has already met twice. He anticipates presenting a course of action in the next 30 days.

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