It's been about seven months since an accident killed student Adam Nevells near Okemos High School. The 17-year-old was pulling out of the school's parking lot when he was hit by another car. Now his father says they are happy to see the speed limit on Jolly Road near the school is changing from 55 to 45 miles per hour. Mike Nevells says, "We never wanted Adam's accident to be the focus of why the speed limit needed to be changed. But, if something good comes out of a tragedy, these little things do help."

Following a petition from Meridian Township, the Ingham County Road Commission Board agreed to lower the limit to 45 miles per hour from Okemos Road to Hagadorn. Managing Director of the Ingham County Road Commission Bill Conklin signed the traffic control order to make that happen. Conklin says, "There was a petition submitted by Meridian Township requesting that since this is largely a residential area, that we lower the speed limit from the current 55 to 45. Our board after some discussion agreed."

The Okemos High School Traffic Safety Commission had been working to lower the limit under a different section of the law that required agreement from five agencies including the Michigan State Police. The Michigan State Police had recommended that the speed limit only be lowered to 50 miles per hour. However, under another section of the law which involves the petition, they say that agreement with the MSP is not needed. Okemos High School Traffic Safety Committee member Suzanna King says, "We continued to look for other means to get this done because it was just so important." Conklin says, "We are going to seek an attorney general opinion to make certain the section of the law is valid."

Now that the paperwork for the traffic control order is signed, it could be as early as Monday that the new 45 mph speed limit signs go up. Mike Nevells says, "We are very pleased the community stuck to their guns. " Nevells says the order will honor his son. He says it's a reminder that we should do whatever we can to protect our children.

Conklin says the Meridian Township Police will begin enforcing the speed limit change in the area as soon as the signs go up.