With all due respect to the honorable mayor of Woodbury, the motorists of Warren County perceive our neighbor to the west as one big speed trap, whether he likes it or not.
Ask anyone, and I mean anyone, from Warren County about their opinion when it comes to Woodbury and they will tell you they believe Woodbury is set up to nickel and dime passers-through. If we were to post an online poll, I would wager more than 80 percent of the respondents would agree.
So, is Woodbury a speed trap? My answer would be yes and no. First, I have no problem with the speed limit dropping as you enter Woodbury. Coming down the mountain, once you hit the bridge, is a school and then numerous businesses leading up to the place with the big metal chicken. After that, heading toward Murfreesboro, is their downtown section which has a lot of pedestrians, followed by another business section.
I don’t think it’s asking too much for folks to back it down to 30 or 25 mph through their downtown section. We do the same in McMinnville. Our speed limit drops to 30 mph at Frank G. Clement Bridge, leading into town as does the speed limit on West Main Street. I don’t hear a lot of people calling that a speed trap.
I also don’t have a problem with the speed limit signs coming from Murfreesboro toward Woodbury backing motorists down to 45 and then 30 mph, as long as there isn’t a cop waiting right at the sign. Once again, it’s a public safety issue due to it being their downtown. We should respect that.
Sure, a bypass would have been nice, whereby those of us traveling to Murfreesboro and Nashville could have avoided the slowdown through Woodbury, but frankly, there wasn’t enough need. I know some conspiracy theorists believe the good people of Woodbury derailed the bypass, fearing they would become Radiator Springs. This wasn’t the case. What happened was the recession hit in the middle of the construction of the New Nashville Highway. It was the state that cut the $7 million bypass from the budget as a cost-saving measure. The four-lane to the top of the mountain from here was still warranted due to safety issues brought by the old curvy Nashville Highway where many people had been killed. The only thing that supported the bypass around Woodbury was convenience.
With that being said, I’ve heard a disturbing trend whereby a lot of motorists have been pulled over going away from Woodbury. Perhaps this has been going on a long time and I’m just getting lots of reports now. Specifically, I mean coming up the mountain toward Warren County and out-bound toward Murfreesboro past Woodbury toward the Arts Center. No such public safety concern can be claimed there since it's open road both ways. Things like that help feed the perception most people here have of Woodbury. Folks shouldn’t be allowed to drag strip once outside the town, but by the same token don’t stop a guy for doing 55 mph outbound when the speed limit change is a stone’s throw away.
Standard reporter Duane Sherrill can be reached at 473-2191.