Speed Reduced Near Town State Responds To Complaints, Lowers Limit On Highway 41

Caving in to complaints from area residents, state highway officials lowered speed limits on busy Highway 41 near Rathdrum.

The Idaho Transportation Board on Monday returned the speed limit to 55 mph between Rathdrum and Spirit Lake and lowered it to 45 mph for two miles south of Rathdrum.

The move came after Lakeland School District officials, Rathdrum city leaders and resident Vivian Ward made a campaign out of slowing traffic on that road.

“I cannot be happy enough,” said Ward, who gathered 1,255 signatures in support of lowering the speed limit. “I’m glad they listened to our concerns and acted promptly.”

In August, the state raised speeds north of Rathdrum to 65 mph because more than 85 percent of drivers tended to travel at least that fast anyway.

But school officials complained that was too fast for a road with more than 30 bus stops. Ward, meanwhile, argued she already had watched one car flip onto her front yard at 55 mph.

“It’s not wise to travel that speed on this road,” she said. “There are too many kids, too many curves and too many driveways.”

City officials have been trying for nearly a year to reduce speeds south of Rathdrum, where much of the city’s residential growth is occurring.

Scott Stokes, district engineer for the highway department, said it was a simple decision for the board to lower the speed limit.

“I think the difference was simply a high amount of public input,” he said. “It was the overriding factor.”

John McHugh, a transportation board member who suggested the changes said the next step is enforcing a speed limit that majority of drivers already break.

“It’s up to the people to slow down now,” he said.

But Ward said she thinks drivers will voluntarily cut back.

“I think the attention this road has gotten has made people to realize it’s not a thoroughfare. It’s a rural part of the world.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Map of Highway 41 area