Lower speed limit urged for 231 North

Bedford County Board of Commissioners' rules and legislative committee voted Tuesday night to recommend lowering the speed limit on U.S. 231 from 65 miles per hour to 55 miles per hour between Shelbyville and Deason.

State troopers and other law enforcement personnel had told county officials such a change would increase safety and reduce accidents, although troopers can't formally recommend the change because they are prohibited from engaging in political activity. It is the state which will make the final decision; the county can only pass a resolution asking the state to change the speed limit.

The rules committee recommended the resolution and placed it on the full county commisison's January agenda.

Bridge dedications

Meanwhile, the rules committee recommended naming one county bridge to commemorate a Civil War encampment, but withheld their recommendation in another case, with the chairman saying a famed Civil War general wasn't in Bedford County long enough to deserve his own bridge.

Phillip Gentry of Wartrace had suggested naming two bridges on State Route 269 in honor of Beechwood Plantation's role in the Civil War. One bridge would be named for Col. Andrew Erwin, the landowner who made his property available to Gen. William J. Hardee as a temporary headquarters. The other bridge would be named for Hardee.

In addition, commissioners Joe Tillett and J.D. "Bo" Wilson have asked that the Skull Camp Bridge on State Route 130 be named for the late banker and community leader Sydney "Bud" McGrew, who died earlier this year.

Rules committee members had no problem honoring Erwin, but chairman P.T. "Biff" Farrar said Hardee was only in the area for a few days and that a historical marker might be more appropriate than naming a bridge.

Farrar praised McGrew but also said the county needs to adopt a set of criteria for naming bridges. He noted that many bridges have been named for war heroes or members of the military.

The rules committee voted to place the Erwin proposal on the full commission agenda with recommendation, and the Hardee proposal on the full commission agenda without a recommendation. The committee also placed the McGrew proposal on the agenda, although it wasn't clear from the wording of the motion whether or not the committee added its recommendation.

As with the speed limit, the formal decision on renaming the bridges lies with the state, since all three sites are on state highways.

Zoning courtesy

The committee recommended passage of a model resolution suggested by Rutherford County. Rutherford County was caught unawares by zoning changes made by Davidson County to land right on the Davidson/Rutherford county line. Rutherford County Mayor Ernest Burgess and the Rutherford County Commission have suggested that in the future, each county set a policy of notifying its neighbor when a zoning change is proposed for a site abutting the neighbor's county line.