People are driving too fast on a stretch of Montana Highway 200 between Plains and Paradise, and two Plains men approached the Sanders County Commissioners last week proposing that the speed limit be lowered.

Rich Magera and Wally Logan met with commissioners last Wednesday with concerns about the highway between mile markers 77 through 82 east of Plains. “There are blind curves and bus stops,” Magera said. “It can get busy.” The two Plains residents are proposing the speed limit be lowered from 70 to 55.

Logan, who lives on Terrace Drive, said that when he goes to turn onto Highway 200 he stops and looks toward Paradise. “If there’s a car, I wait.” Magera said that there are also large trucks filled with rock from a local quarry that enter the highway in the area.

In the five-mile stretch of highway, there are 15 white crosses. The crosses are put up and maintained by the American Legion to designate highway fatalities across the state.

“Our request is to slow down to 55,” Magera said. “It’s just dangerous.”

Commissioner Carol Brooker said that the next step is for the commissioners to write a letter to the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) requesting a speed study in the area. She noted that during her tenure as commissioner, MDT has conducted speed studies on areas including Highway 35 near Quinn’s Hot Springs Resort and near the Plains schools.

“As we grow and get more entrances on the highway, safety becomes more of a concern,” Brooker said. The commissioners agreed to write a letter requesting a speed study of the area and thanked Logan and Magera for bringing their concerns to the commission.