MAGNOLIA SPRINGS — The fatal motorcycle wreck on County Road 26 this past weekend brought the issue of road safety to the forefront at Tuesday’s Magnolia Springs Town Council meeting.

“I think it’s gotten to be a crucial point,” Magnolia Springs resident David Lawrence said at the meeting, citing the one-vehicle crash that took the life of 43-year-old Foley resident Jeffrey Wayne Hodges early Saturday morning.

Magnolia Springs Mayor Ken Underwood agreed.

“I can recollect about eight deaths from (County Road) 26 to right here,” he said, citing speed as a factor in those deaths, “and four or five since we’ve been a town.”

Lawrence told the Council that he often sees vehicles speeding along Magnolia Springs roadways when walking in and around his Village Green subdivision.

“Personally, I think it’s abhorrent,” he said.

“I see it every day,” Village Green Subdivision President Steve Mobley added. “Me and Rhonda were sitting out there the other day, and they (vehicles) were going 71 miles an hour.”

The conversation also involved concern over County Road 49, which is also known as Magnolia Springs Highway because it is the main thoroughfare through the town. That concern involved speeders passing by Magnolia Landing, which will soon have a new boardwalk with an observation deck at the edge of Magnolia River.

“I walk every day,” Lawrence said. “I just don’t want to be the person that walks over and finds a child dead because they’ve been run over one day.”

Further discussion involved the suggestions for a solution. Town Councilman Bob Holk suggested such speed deterrents as a three-way stop sign on County Road 26.

In addition, the Council discussed community support for the improvements.

“If you want to galvanize a group, I can assure you you can have 500 signatures,” Lawrence told the Council.

Upon further discussion, the Council decided to invite a member of Baldwin County’s Engineering Department to its next work session, which meets at 5 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 11.