Plano officials hoping to slow down drivers near Emily G. Johns School

City of Plano officials are nearing a purchase of two traffic control devices to monitor speeding on Mitchell and Waubonsee Drive in a bid to better enforce the rules of the road.

Alderman Ben Eaton said during a city council meeting Monday, June 26 that greater traffic enforcement is “a big priority for us” that was delayed by the pandemic. Speeding along Mitchell Drive near Emily G. Johns, 430 Mitchell Drive, has been one of the bigger traffic headaches for officials and residents.

“We’ve had people going 50 mph on that road in front of a school,” Eaton said.

Should the city install devices on the road, they would track the date, time and speed of cars. With that data in hand, the city will be better equipped to send out traffic police or put up signs.

“We’ve had a lot of complaints, but when we hear those complaints we don’t know if it’s 1, 5, 33 (cars),” Eaton said. “We need to know what time we need to have a policeman there, whether its 8 a.m. or 5 p.m. or both.”

Further discussion about traffic control will take place at the city’s next streets committee meeting on Wednesday, August 11 at 6 p.m. in city hall.