Haines Borough Planning Commission members clashed last week over whether the body should entertain a request by residents to lower the speed limit from 30 to 20 mph on lower Mud Bay Road.

Resident Ann Marie Fossman submitted a request to the commission to lower the speed limit on the stretch of Mud Bay between the road’s two intersections with Small Tracts Road, though the road is owned and managed by the state and therefore the commission has no authority to change its speed limit.

Fossman also requested the area be designated a no-trucking zone.

Several community members turned out to support Fossman’s appeal and asked the commission to send a letter to the Department of Transportation asking the agency to lower the speed limit.

Members of the public cited the road’s high use by pedestrians and cyclists, and the awkward locations of some driveways on the road that make it difficult to pull in and out with vehicles zooming by.

Steve Fossman pointed out that the speed limit is 20-25 mph in other residential zones around the community, and asked why Mud Bay couldn’t be aligned to that standard.

Some commissioners balked at the request to write a letter to DOT, including Brenda Josephson, who suggested the speeding issue could be resolved with more police enforcement.

“We’re the wrong forum for this conversation, and I really would not want to encourage the commission to be writing letters on this,” Josephson said. “I encourage the people who are having the challenges to take it to the enforcement people. And also if you’ve got driveways that are engineered poorly, maybe you need to look at re-engineering your driveway.”

Commissioner Donnie Turner agreed. “As the Planning Commission, it’s not in our lap, really. I think the police department is where it needs to be.”

Commissioner Heather Lende disagreed, saying that speed limits intersect with several planning issues, including the Comprehensive Plan’s goal to increase the “walkability” of the community. “I wonder when we do weigh in, if something like this that clearly falls under planning isn’t something we weigh in on.”

Interim police chief Robert Griffiths said this week the area in question is “regularly monitored by officers using radar.” “There are a number of speeding warnings issued each week and occasional citations issued to repeat offenders and those traveling well over the limit,” Griffiths said.

Griffiths said the average speed police see on the road is between 30-40 mph.

The commission decided to invite a DOT representative and the police chief to the commission’s Aug. 13 meeting for further discussion. Commissioner Rob Miller said he would like to see discussion of both the Mud Bay and Small Tracts areas, as both roads are used as routes for getting to the end of Mud Bay Road.

DOT spokesperson Jeremy Woodrow said the state determines speed limits based on a formula called “the 85th percentile.” Using counters to track traffic rates and directions, the agency determines how drivers respond to the design of the road: people drive faster on straightaways, slower around multiple curves, and so on. On that portion of Mud Bay Road, 85 percent of drivers go 30 mph or less, Woodrow said.

“It’s not an arbitrary number that we select,” Woodrow said.

Woodrow said the agency would be “willing to review a request.” He suggested concerned residents send a letter to DOT’s Southeast director, Rob Campbell, who can be reached at [email protected].