DOOR COUNTY (NBC 26) — Along Bay Shore Drive, one man frustration after nearly being hit while biking and walking, is fed up with speeding cars which lead him to take matters into his own hands.
Jay Walters says he first raised concerns about speeding on Bay Shore Drive to Egg Harbor town officials two years ago.
"Friends have also been almost hit on this road. I almost got hit probably two years ago on this road, so people are concerned," Jay Walters said.
He says he asked the town board to conduct a speed study, hoping it would lead to lowering the 45-mile-per-hour speed limit.
"I thought I needed to do something. I thought I needed to bring awareness to this issue," Walters said.
But the board declined, citing the cost. The chair told us it’s the Sheriff’s Office’s responsibility to enforce the speed limit.
So, Jay decided to act.
"What he did is he contacted us and wanted to know about the purchasing of this sign,"Thad Ash, Highway Commissioner, of Door County Highway Department said.
Ash says Jay bought the sign for $4,000, and the department installed it for $300.
"This is a huge step by an individual who is very concerned about the speed of the vehicle traffic on this road," Ash said.
The sign has provided Jay with traffic data from vehicles traveling in both directions on Bay Shore Drive.
"So my goal, my ultimate goal now, is to really use this data to get the Sheriff's Department to enforce the speed," Walters said.
He shares the data collected from the sign with the Door County Sheriff’s Office and the Door County Highway Department.
Jay is the first person in the county to buy a sign like this and he says he hopes to be the last, once law enforcement and drivers recognize just how dangerous these roads have become.
