Brown Township to look into putting speed limit signs on Walker, Davis road

The following story was written by a student on the staff of The Jaguar Times as part of Hilliard Bradley High School’s Journalism Production course.

by Thomas Kitchen Opinion Editor

Brown Township Fire Station Next to the intersection of Roberts and Walker Road. photo credit: Thomas Kitchen

As the cities of Hilliard and Columbus continue to expand west into Brown Township in Franklin County, annexing territory into their cities, and developing the land they annex. The Brown Township board of trustees is faced with a growing number of drivers traveling through Brown Township, particularly along Walker and Davis road.

Walker and Davis road are some of the busiest roads in Brown Township. Especially during the school year, as Walker Road is home to Hilliard Bradley High School. Drivers coming to and from Bradley use Davis road to drive to and from Hilliard where their homes are located. A large problem along those roads is drivers speeding.

During the March 20th Brown Township board of trustees meeting, the topic of placing marked speed limit signs along Davis and Walker roads was brought up, and is now being looked into.

The increasing number of people speeding on roads located within Brown Township has residents frustrated. Caleb Bennett (12) a student at Hilliard Bradley who lives within Brown Township expresses this frustration, “currently I have noticed the increasing number of drivers that completely ignore the speed limit.”

The speed limit for unmarked country roads in Ohio is 55 mph. “I hate seeing drivers plow down roads close to my house at highway speeds.” Bennett continued. Possible reasons for the increase in speed among drivers is that they don’t know the Ohio law that sets the speed limit on unmarked country roads.

Featured on the Jaguar Times Daily Broadcast was a segment where the Jag Times asked students, “What is the speed limit on Davis road?” Of the students interviewed a variety of answers were given, some said 65 mph, some said 60, and some said 45 mph, but none answered correctly at 55 mph.

A possible reason for young drivers not knowing the speed limit is that many drivers that received their license during COVID-19, did their drivers education online, as well as tested online.

As Brown Township is being expanded into by the Cities of Hilliard and Columbus, a need for patrol officers driving through the township may be needed. Caleb Bennett also expressed this, “seeing drivers sometimes blatantly ignore traffic signs and laws makes me wish that police would patrol around here more often.”

Although more police patrols may be beneficial, it is up the the Brown Township board of trustees to prepare the Township for the growing population in and around the Township for expansion.