The Greene County Road Committee unanimously recommended decreasing the speed limit on a section of the county-maintained portion of Snapps Ferry Road to 45 miles per hour during its meeting Tuesday night.
The request was brought by Jason Cobble, who lives at 3270 Snapps Ferry Road. Cobble is a county commissioner, but does not serve on the Road Committee.
Cobble told the committee that 197 wrecks have happened on the road since 2011.
Inside the town limits, the speed limit of Snapps Ferry Road is 35 miles per hour where the road meets the city limits, but outside of the town limits the speed limit is 55 miles per hour.
Cobble requested that the speed limit be decreased to 45 miles per hour on Snapps Ferry Road from the city limits to Williams Spring Road, near Fairview Cumberland Presbyterian Church. The remainder of Snapps Ferry Road in the county would remain 55 miles per hour.
The measure could go before the County Commission for consideration as soon as August 17.
In March, the committee recommended that the speed limit be decreased to 45 miles per hour for the full length of Snapps Ferry Road until it reached Rheatown Road also known as Highway 351 in response to a request from Cobble. However, that resolution was never brought before the County Commission. On Tuesday, the Road Committee unanimously recommended the speed limit be decreased for a much smaller portion of the road.
In other business, the Road Committee unanimously recommended making Plowshare Road, a small road less than a quarter of a mile long that connects Asheville Highway and 107 Cutoff, a double dead-end. If given final approval by the County Commission, the road would be split in two, with barriers placed in the middle.
The road sees little use, and has unsafe sight-lines when entering 107 Cutoff according to members of the Road Committee and residents near the street.
Committee members said making the street a dead end would not inconvenience motorists because 107 Cutoff and Asheville Highway intersect just about 150 feet past Plowshare Road, making the short road unnecessary.
Since the road will not be closed, property owners will maintain their current road frontage. The county would continue to maintain road once it is divided by a barrier.
The County Commission will consider the recommendation to make the road a double dead-end at a future meeting.
