Dear Editor,

I am heartened to learn that the City is considering reducing the speed limit on Mission 66 (see the article in The Post on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023). Forty miles per hour is much too fast for such a curvy road with so much traffic. Not only is the speed limit set at 30 mph on Mission 66 from Clay Street north toward the cemetery, but Clay Street has a speed limit of 30 mph from the city boundary west to Washington Street.

While reducing the speed limit on Mission 66 is the right thing to do, that reduction will not work without enforcement.

I know that our police force is stretched thin. But the lack of enforcement of speed limits and traffic laws in this city encourages drivers to ignore the rules.

Just the other day, I saw my life pass before my eyes as I ventured into the intersection at MacArthur Place and Mission 66. A driver sped south on Mission 66, only to turn right onto MacArthur Place at the last possible moment. The driver did not use her turn signal, nor did she stop at the red light before turning right on red. I was certain that I was about to be t-boned.

Yes, please, let’s reduce the speed limit to 30 mph on Mission 66 from Clay Street south to Frontage Road. And let’s set up some radar speed signs along the road to alert drivers that they are exceeding the speed limit.

I know that red light cameras are not allowed in Mississippi, although they would help enormously at Mission 66 and MacArthur Place and Mission 66 and Indiana Avenue, both intersections where drivers continuously run red lights and endanger others.

Perhaps traffic lights at those intersections could be set on an even longer delay on green to make sure that drivers coming the other way are stopped. And let’s install that pedestrian button on the light at MacArthur Place so that folks can safely cross Mission 66 to get to the medical offices on the other side. Let’s work together to make our daily commute safer for all.

Sincerely,

The Rev. Beth Palmer

Vicksburg