Residents have painted ‘Slow Down’ on Brinkley

May 7. A Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s and the Cornelius Police Dept.’s joint traffic enforcement operation this past  Friday afternoon resulted in 63 citations.

Most of them were on Bailey Road near the new Greenway Crosswalk. There were 46 speeding citations written there as well as one for operating without a license.

There were six speeding citations issued at West Catawba Avenue and Nantz Road, a high crash area. At the West Catawba and Bethel Church, another high crash area, officers wrote nine speeding tickets.

The locations were identified as “targeted areas” after receiving complaints from citizens, according to the Sheriff’s office.

Sheriff’s cars at Jetton Park in February

The town/county effort comes after some members of the Cornelius Town Commission said residents where concerned when the Sheriff’s Office set up a speed enforcement operation on Jetton Road back in February.

The highest speed ticketed was 50 mph in a 35 mph zone, according to the Sheriff’s office. The median range of those ticketed was at least 10 miles an hour above the speed limit.

Sheriff Garry McFadden and staff members attended an uncomfortable meeting at Town Hall while Mayor Woody Washam was away.

Washam, Town Manager Andrew Grant and Police Chief Kevin Black, soon paid a courtesy visit to the Sheriff’s Office in March, but skipped a photo opportunity after the meeting.

Chief Black said he was pleased with the joint traffic safety initiative targeting speeders “in response to Cornelius citizen complaints and observations by our officers in the targeted areas.”

The goal of the initiative is to “maintain safe roadways and prevent traffic crashes through effective speed enforcement.”

Based on the demand in Cornelius as well as the broad geographic area, Black said he welcomed the help.

Mayor Woody Washam said citizens who see people driving at “very aggressive speeds or demonstrating unsafe movements,” should call 911.

​Residents can also request that police deploy speed detectors with live read-outs, as well as start their own neighborhood Facebook page for reports of egregious speeding. Be sure to include the time, date and make and model of the vehicle.