The City of Atlantic’s Community Protection Commission Tuesday, voted to forward their recommendation to the City Council, that the speed limit on a portion of 22nd Street, from Chestnut to Palm, be reduced from 45- to 35-miles per hour. The recommendation followed a lengthy discussion and review of data from Police Chief Steve Green and engineers hired to track information about the average speed along that stretch of road.

The Commission had received a petition from at least 16 residents in the area, where new residential developments have sprung up over the past few years, asking the Council to review the situation, but providing no specifics on what the problem actually is. That caused a bit of consternation among the Commission, as to what needs to be fixed.

Police Chief Steve Green said at Tuesday night’s meeting, that a recent check on traffic speeds along west 22^nd Street seemed to indicate there isn’t much of a problem He said out of 1,000 cars that traveled along the road, 101, or 10-percent, were traveling 10-miles per hour or more over the current, posted speed limit. Green says it could be looked at as an enforcement issue at this point in time. He said most of the time, the natural, hilly terrain and curves in the road tends to cause drivers to travel at or near the posted speed limit.

CPC Chair Steve Livengood said sending the recommendation to the full council would allow the process to begin for the public to have its say on whether there actually is a problem with speeding in the area, and how reducing the speed limit would affect those who travel through there, on a regular basis.  City Administrator Doug Harris agreed.

In June, the Atlantic City Council passed an amended ordinance pertaining to a reduction of the speed limit on East 22^nd Street from Highway 71 to Olive Street, from 45-to 35-miles per hour. The move followed discussions between the Community Protection Committee, Police Chief Steve Green, and residents in the area.  Earlier in the year, the Council voted down a proposal to reduce the speed limit on both the east and west section of 22nd Street, after receiving negative feedback from the public. Atlantic Mayor Dave Jones warned citizens in June, that speeding was still a problem on other portions of 22^nd Street,  and that the Police Department would be stepping-up patrols and issuing tickets for those who try to skirt the law.