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Speed Limit Cut on Segment of U.S. 601 Bypass: Will Go From 55 Mph to 45 Mph Around Zion Church Road

Posted on: Sunday, 12 February 2006, 12:00 CST

By Gail Smith-Arrants, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.

Feb. 12--CONCORD -- Because of traffic congestion, the Concord City Council has agreed to reduce the speed limit from 55 mph to 45 mph on a half-mile stretch of U.S. 601 Bypass South.

Among other actions Thursday, the council also amended the city's noise ordinance to make it easier to enforce.

The reduced speed will be in the area around the Bi-Lo shopping center at Zion Church Road, south to Armentrout Drive.

Numerous accidents and near misses have occurred in that high-congestion area, Concord Police Chief Merl Hamilton said.

A resident in that area called attention to the problem, city spokeswoman Annette Privette said. State transportation officials agreed the speed needed to be lowered because of increased traffic generated by a nearby industrial park.

"It's dropping to 45 mph because of the increase in traffic, and commercial and industrial traffic," Privette said after the meeting. The city also is getting ready to start curb improvements in that area, Privette said.

Besides making enforcement easier for officers who answer complaints, the noise ordinance revisions are also intended to streamline the way citizen complaints are handled and include an appeals process.

Hamilton said the most important aspect of the revised ordinance is how it defines "noise-sensitive" areas, such as schools and hospitals.

"It gives officers a little more guidance," he told council members.

The council also took the following actions:

-- Held a public hearing on the involuntary annexation of nearly 190 acres of nonresidential property south of U.S. 601 Bypass in the Zion Church Road/Armentrout Drive area. No one spoke at the hearing, but city officials said several property owners from the area attended a meeting Jan. 23 where they could review the city's plans to provide services and ask questions. The council set March 9 as the tentative date for adopting the annexation ordinance.

-- Approved short-term and long-range goals for 2006-07.

Gail Smith-Arrants: (704) 786-2185

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)

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