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Council votes to raise FM 499 speed limit

Google maps / https://maps.google.com/
Picture of 649 Farm to Market Road 499 in Greenville.

The Greenville City Council voted Tuesday to raise the speed limit of one of the main roads which passes through the Ardis Heights community.

“This segment of the road is FM 499, which is also called Forester Street,” said City Manager Massoud Ebrahim. “The speed limit can be raised by 5 mph.”

Ebrahim said the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) recently completed a new speed study for FM 499, which would replace the previous 40 mph limit set in 1966. Ebrahim said the TxDOT study recommends the new speed limit be set at 45 mph for FM 499 from the intersection of Spur 301 and/or Interstate 30, for approximately 1.339 miles east, to the eastern city limit of Greenville.

Council member Dan Perkins said he had some concerns about the idea.

“To me, this is almost a residential road, with houses on each side,” Perkins said.

Ebrahim said raising the speed limit would eliminate the section where the current limit is lower than what has been set for the rest of the road. “This is going to change that to one leg, at 45 mph,” Ebrahim said.

The measure passed on a 5-0 vote of the council, with Jeff Dailey and Sandra Linson Bell not present for the meeting.