Have You Seen The Mystery School Zone Signs In Evansville?

If you've ever wondered why you see certain school zone or speed limit signs in weird places, there's a pretty good reason...it costs money to change those signs.

The Evansville PD said on their Facebook page that people are asking about a certain school zone on Lathrop road..

There have been many inquiries about the school zone on Lathrop road and if it's still in place.

The PD explained that the school zone is no longer there, and why the signs haven't changed.

The answer is no, the school zone has been removed.

 

2011 guidelines were established for local governments in Wyoming to set speed limits.

 

With the new standards (2011 to present) setting or changing speed limits requires a professional engineer to sign and stamp the speed limit rather than the WYDOT chief engineer.

 

It requires data collection which could not be found on file from when the school zone was established along with anything from a professional engineer signing off on the school zone.
Next the town has adopted by ordinance Wyoming State Statutes for traffic laws (common practice with a lot of municipalities), and the state bond schedule set by the Wyoming Supreme Court in Cheyenne.
Under Wyoming state statute 31-5-301 maximum speed limits section (i) twenty (20) miles per hour when passing a school building, the grounds thereof, within any other area or space in the vicinity of a school designated by an official traffic control device as a school zone with a reduced speed limit or a school crossing.
Lathrop Road is not within the VICINITY (the area near or surrounding a particular place) of the Evansville Elementary School (only school in town).
To establish minimum and maximum speed limits, local authorities shall comply with national standards for roads, as adopted by the Transportation Commission of Wyoming.
Engineering studies cost money to do. If the town was paying for a study the following roadway characteristic; roadway length, access points (total number access points on the whole road), access points per mile, roadway width and traffic data.
With the road not being in the vicinity of a school per the statute it is not qualified to have one, there for an engineer would not sign off on having a school zone had a study been conducted when the zone was created.
There will be signs posted showing there is a school bus stop that have been ordered

Even though there may not be a school in the area, with the Aspen community along that road, there are many children that live in the area. It's a good idea to keep your speed down and eyes open for kids playing in the area.