Students who live or commute along Trailwood Drive between Tryon Road and Avent Ferry need to be cautious, as the North Carolina Department of Transportation and City of Raleigh Public Works lowered Trailwood’s speed limit.

The road has been given two different speed limits because it falls partly within Raleigh city limits, and partly under jurisdiction of the NCDOT.

The city of Raleigh controls the stretch between Tryon and Thistledown Drive and the NCDOT maintains the road from the Raleigh Fire Station to Avent Ferry.

The city of Raleigh lowered its stretch of road to a speed limit of 35 mph, while the NCDOT only lowered its section to 40 mph.

“I felt like 35 would be more of a speed trap,” NCDOT Division Traffic Engineer Steve Johnson said.

The change came after the Lineberry Alliance, a community organization in the Trailwood area, took the issue to the Raleigh City Council in December 2006.

“The request [to lower the speed limit] basically stemmed from an increased use of the road,” Lineberry Alliance Director Jason Hibbets said. “It’s a popular cut-through from Tryon, and over the years numerous housing developments have been constructed in the Lineberry and Tryon areas near Trailwood.”

Residents have complained of Trailwood’s winding road with numerous curves, poor shoulders and no streetlights. Short-cutters traveling from Tryon to Avent Ferry often exceed 55 mph on the road, according to local residents.

On June 11, three separate wrecks occurred within three driveways of one other, according to Hibbets.

The most important issue for Johnson is not the speed limit itself but the willingness of drivers to adhere to it.

“If people will just drive the speed limits, that’s what we like to see,” he said.

Students who live along Trailwood Drive, such as junior Mark Jahad, seem to be in favor of the change.

“Cops actually watching helps,” Jahad, a University Suites resident, said. “I think it’s a smart idea.”