Jewett resident brings speeding problem into spotlight

BY JD LONG jim@harrisonnewsherald.com

JEWETT—Complaints have been heard before, but another resident, Kurt, spoke at Wednesday’s Jewett council meeting and made clear that speeding traffic was a problem, especially near his residence on Ohio 151.

“It has started getting to the point the traffic has become really unsafe —not the amount of traffic, just the speed at which the traffic travels,” Kurt explained. “We’ve buried, in the past couple of months, five different pets because people coming into town are hitting basically the line at 55 miles an hour. And the people leaving town seem to think it’s a drag strip.” He also alluded to a neighbor’s pet that had been killed and asked the council, “How long before we’re burying people?”

He said Jewett is a beautiful little town, and the east side should be taken care of like the west side and other towns. Council member Paul Prevot pointed out that the corporation limit sign is prevalent on the west side, compared to around 500 feet when entering the village on the east side.

Kurt said one person calling the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) would not be as effective as the community informing the state what they need to curb the problem. “But we as a group, as a village, as a community, come together and push this forward to ODOT and our state legislatures, we can get something done,” he told council members.

Village solicitor Jenna Hokes said that reduced speed signs could be placed without a state study, and the council felt it was a good idea.