At the village board's request, the Illinois Department of Transportation has agreed study whether it would be allowable to lower the speed limits on Route 72 in front of Tuscany Woods subdivision, from 55 mph down to 45.
Now, the limit drops to 45 only when a westbound driver has gotten past Tuscany Woods, because the limit was last adjusted a few years back, when the Tuscany property hadn't yet been developed. This summer, Village President Jeff Magnussen was approached by a couple of people who live in the Tuscany Woods condos backing up to Route 72. They had become worried because a car, whose driver distracted was by something inside her auto, had left the roadway at high speed and headed toward their homes. They don't want to end up like the couple in Sparks, Nev., this week, who woke up with an errant car on top of their bed. (The Nevada couple, by the way, were trapped for 40-plus minutes under that car's engine compartment, but emerged with only a few burns from hot engine parts and leaking fluids.)
Before the reduction can be approved, IDOT must look at that area's prevailing speeds, accident history, entrances and intersections, roadside parking and pedestrian activity.
Meanwhile, a more galactic trial balloon Magnussen raised after being sworn in for his second term last spring has gone nowhere so far. The mayor proposed cutting speed limits on most residential streets by 5 mph, from 30 to 25. But because those streets aren't state routes, the village would have to pay for similar traffic studies itself before getting state approval to make that change.
Magnussen says that at this time, the $13,000 expense is hard to justify when the village is cutting back its spending even on pretty critical needs, such as permanently replacing the police chief. "If it was up to me, I'd put up the (Speed Limit 25) signs today," Magnussen said.
Take that, Burlington!
We quoted Burlington officials crowing that their Odd Fellows-sponsored circus last month was better than Hampshire's biennial Lions Club circus because it had more big animals, including an elephant ridden by some Republican candidates. Hampshire Lions Club member Roger Paddock fired back.
"Burlington's information to you about our circus was misleading," Paddock writes. "First, we did have two tigers and a lion act. Culpepper & Merriweather Circus did not have their horses with them this year because of some equipment difficulties at the beginning of the year. They had to leave their horses in Oklahoma.
"True, we did not have an elephant," Paddock adds. "And Lions Clubs is not a political organization, and we did not have any politicians there for political purposes. If they came, they attended as spectators."
Of course, a circus sponsored by the Lions should have big cats, shouldn't it?
Trick-or-treat
A rumor has been circulating that Hampshire kids are encouraged to trick or treat Friday, after wearing their costumes to school.
Not true. The village's official trick-or-treat hours this year are 3 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Halloween Day only.
The last roundup
Village Trustee Jan Kraus says this year's final Saturday motor oil recycling collection will be Nov. 7 from 9 a.m. to noon, at Klick Street and Mill Street — er, that should be Mill Avenue. The project will resume in April.