When I moved to the city of Guntersville in 2013, I moved into a home that was safe for my husband and me in the 1100 block of Rayburn Avenue.  At the time, I had been active in productions at The Whole Backstage for many years so I was familiar with the area and I was comfortable living there.  8 years and one child later, I see that the neighborhood in which I planned on growing my family is not as safe as once believed. 

With the installation of a speed bump on the parallel block of O’Brig came an increase in traffic on Rayburn.  I can tell you with certainty that a majority of this traffic are employees from Tucker Milling, Pilgrim’s Pride, and any other businesses located on Highway 227 that employ people who cut through our neighborhood to get to Highway 69 for travel to and from work.  I can also include parents who have children enrolled at Guntersville Elementary but this is not entirely about the amount of traffic, but also the speed in which these drivers deem is appropriate for our neighborhood.  Since there is a sharp curve that connects Lusk into Rayburn, it seems there are people who enjoy treating our street as a speedway of sorts.  They use that curve to test their driving abilities and then the small portion of straight-a-way to test their speed.

Our neighborhood has residents that take advantage of the sidewalks along with their children, grandchildren, and pets daily.  There are residents that have to park their personal automobiles in front of their houses, on the street.  There are also patrons of the theatre who enter and exit the parking lot and during sold-out show days, these patrons also have to park on the side of the road.  Having drivers speed down our street is not safe for anyone.  There was a “Slow Children at Play” sign installed in 2017 but as you can imagine, it has not deterred drivers from continually speeding.  This is why my husband and I are petitioning for the installation of a speed bump within the 1100 block of Rayburn Avenue.  With the installation of this speed bump our hope is that the number of drivers wanting to “cut through” our neighborhood and/or use our street as a drag racecourse will decrease and provide a safer space for not only the residents of Rayburn Avenue but our neighboring residents and their children that utilize the area.