Years in the making, the speed limit on the 1-mile stretch of Georgia 515 between the Glenn Gooch Bypass and Murphy Highway in Blairsville has finally been reduced from 45 mph to 40 mph. The change took effect last Thursday with the installation of new signage.
The speed reduction is the result of extensive legwork and networking by former Union County Sheriff Mack Mason, who was also successful in securing other traffic safety improvements in the county, like prohibiting commercial trucks on the steep and curvy GA 348.
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Mason worked with both the Georgia Department of Transportation and Blairsville City Hall, the latter of which drafted a letter in 2023 expressing the shared desire of Mason and city officials to lower the speed limit there to improve safety in one of the most congested corridors in town.
The now-retired sheriff originally sought a reduction from 45 mph to 35 mph to make it safer to pull out of the 28 intersections on the busy stretch of the highway running through city limits, as motorists routinely drive 10 mph or more over the limit to reach speeds of 55 mph or greater.
Responding to Mason’s initial reduction request in 2022, the state conducted a traffic study, informing Mason that the results demonstrated a 5-mph decrease was warranted instead of 10 mph.
While he preferred his initial proposal, Mason said at the time that the 5-mph reduction was movement in the right direction, because “speed kills,” and slowing down traffic to any degree in such an active area makes motorists safer – and potentially saves lives over time.
Per the traffic study used to justify the reduction, between 2018 and 2023, there were 309 crashes in the area where the speed limit has decreased. Among these were one fatality, 81 injuries and 227 with property damage only. And the road has only gotten busier since then.
GDOT expects the 5-mph decrease to lower the average frequency of all crash types by 12%, at least according to the several years old traffic study, which would be a significant impact.
The state originally signaled that the new 40-mph speed limit signs would be installed in the fall of 2024, and the newspaper does not know why there was a delay in enacting the change.
“I’m glad that it happened,” Mason said Sunday. “But it’s ridiculous that it took the DOT so long to do this. With the experience I’ve had going to wrecks over the years with people killed or severely injured, my goal has been to make those things less likely to happen.”
