Park County commissioners are working to slow down traffic on the main route through the Clark community. Last week, commissioners unanimously voted to drop the speed limit on a stretch of Road 1AB from 65 to 55 mph, with a couple curvy sections reduced further.

Multiple landowners along the route had requested a change, and after studying the issue, Park County Engineer Brian Edwards endorsed a slower speed. Among other factors, Edwards noted at least seven accidents over the past decade.

County data suggests the change will force many drivers to change their speeds on the 3.5 miles of road in question, which goes from Wyo. Highway 120 to a Y-shaped intersection near the Clark Elementary School.

“We’re probably going to make some people unhappy,” Edwards warned commissioners ahead of their vote to reduce the speed.

Under the new speed limits, drivers will need to keep their vehicles at 45 mph when they first exit Wyo. 120, before accelerating to 55 mph for a couple fairly straight miles. The limit will then drop to 40 mph for westbound vehicles, as they approach the Y intersection of roads 1AB and 8VC.

Traffic engineers typically look at the so-called 85th percentile speed — the speed at which 85% of drivers are traveling at or below — as an indication of what limit may be appropriate. On the straightest stretch of Road 1AB, the county pegged the 85th percentile speed at 66 mph in 2017, while the average speed was clocked at 58 mph. That was among roughly 540 vehicles per day.

Lowering the limit to 55 mph “kind of goes contrary to the speed data,” Edwards said, “but it’s based on the number of accidents [and] the amount of traffic.”

He also noted there are some hills and curves along the route.

“Any time we change any signs, whether it be raising it up or lowering it, there will be a lot of public interest — and some aren’t going to like it,” Edwards said. “I think in this case, it’s erring on the side of safety.”

Commissioner Lloyd Thiel, who is one of about a dozen people who live along the 3.5-mile stretch, spoke in support of the lower speed limit.

Thiel had sought to gauge public sentiment about the change before the commission’s decision, asking his daughter to conduct a survey within a Clark Facebook group. Of the 127 people who responded, 82 of them — or about 65% — did not want the speed limit to be lowered, Thiel said, calling that an “overwhelming majority.”

However, when he spoke with 10 of his fellow landowners along the route, Thiel said that “every one of them wanted it lowered.”

He added that the population in Clark has “drastically increased” since the speed limit was set at 65 mph. Further, Thiel said there’s a lot of wildlife in the area, posing a problem for Clark residents who are leaving for or returning from jobs in Powell and Cody in the wee hours of the night and morning.

The commissioner also suggested that the official count of seven crashes in 10 years could be low, saying a fatal crash near his home did not appear to have been included.

Both Edwards and Thiel said lowering the speed limit will make the speeds more consistent in the Clark area; the 65 mph limit on 1AB was an anomaly.

How the limit originally came to be set at that speed is unclear. Edwards’ best guess is the route was raised to 65 mph when it was a state highway and all state speed limits were increased. Edwards has heard that citizens may have pushed for the speed limit to be hiked from 55 to 65 mph on 1AB, but he hasn’t found any documentation to support that.

When he cautioned that some people weren’t going to like the slower speeds, Commission Chairman Lee Livingston responded, “I figured out a long time ago, if I’m not making a few people unhappy, I’m probably not doing my job — [or] at least I’ve been told that.”

In recent years, the county has adjusted some speed limits without any formal action from the commission. For instance, last fall, speed limits were lowered on some county roads south of Powell that lead off of Wyo. Highway 295; Edwards said the intent there was to slow down traffic coming on and off the highway, particularly with increasing development in those rural areas.

Going forward, Edwards said his office plans to bring all speed limit changes before the commission for final approval, in-line with state regulations.