Port city officials are hoping to curb a high number of accidents at the intersection of Sunset Road and Highway LL by reducing the speed limit on Hwy. LL to 35 mph.

The Common Council approved the recommendation that the speed limit be reduced, but the official approval has to come from the Ozaukee County Board because the road is a county highway.

The current speed limit in that area of Hwy. LL is 45 mph, but officials are hoping the 10 mph reduction will decrease the number of accidents that more often than not result in some sort of injury.

The intersection has stop signs on Sunset Road, and the Port Washington Police Department says that most drivers involved in accidents, while at these stop signs, reported that cars on Hwy. LL looked farther away when they were.

Plus, city officials said, the stop signs seem to be only a suggestion to most people.

"The cars do stop, but it's more of a rolling stop and for one reason or another they seem to misjudge the cars on LL," City Administrator Mark Grams said at a council meeting last week.

In a five-year study of the intersection, Port Washington police show 11 accidents with 8 resulting in personal injury of either a driver or occupant, with failure to yield tickets often being issued.

This compares to another high-accident intersection in Port Washington, Spring Street and Grand Avenue, where a five-year student produced a total of 17 crashes but only three of those leading to injury.

The County Board meets the first and third Wednesday of every month at 9 a.m. in the Administrative Buidling, 121 W. Main St., Port, Room A-204.