The speed limit on all county roads will be lowered with the exception of two, the Warren County Commission voted last week. The limit on all county gravel roads will be 30 mph, while hard-surface roads will be 40 mph. The decision has no effect on state highways. The lower speed limit is in effect now, but Sheriff Kevin Harrison noted warnings will be given until signs are posted on all of the roads. New speed limit signs should be posted by the first of the year. The signs have to be erected at every county entrance and at every intersection where a county road meets a state highway, Presiding Commissioner Arden Engelage said. "We kicked the idea around that it would be much simpler and much safer to make it countywide," Southern District Commissioner Hubie Kluesner said. The commission took notice of concerns from the increase in signed petitions from residents seeking lower speed limits and recent teenage deaths, according to Northern District Commissioner Dan Hampson. In the past year, two Warrenton High School students were killed in separate single-vehicle accidents. In both instances, authorities believed speed might have played a factor in the drivers losing control. Just this past weekend, five teenagers were transported to the hospital after an 18-year-old female driver lost control on loose gravel on Powerline Road. All five occupants escaped serious injuries though one was airlifted to St. John's Mercy Medical Center in Creve Coeur. The occupants ranged in age from 17 to 18 years old. "We have a lot of teenagers getting killed out here every year," Hampson said. "They are not getting killed the first time they speed. On a gravel road, unless they are going over 55 mph and an officer sees you, they can't get a ticket. These kids will be getting tickets and hopefully slowing them down." Previously, speed limits on all county roads varied, according to the commissioners, and followed the state law of 55 mph in many instances. In the past several years, the commission said more residents have requested lower speed limits on certain county roads or portions that were deemed unsuitable for faster speeds. "As Gary (Ruether, county road supervisor) gets the road better, people are driving faster on them," Engelage said. ". . .(Residents) don't like speeding in front of their houses." The lone two exceptions to the commissioner's decision are Mill Road, an area in Concord Hill near St. Ignatius Catholic School, and Abrolat Road, located south of Stracks Church Road. Mill Road will remain 30 mph while Abrolat Road will stay at 25 mph. Those current speed limits are remaining, the commissioners said, since both are already lower than the county's new maximum speeds. By going to a simplified approach where only two speed limits are used, Engelage said the county won't have to alert several law enforcement agencies and the court system every time a speed limit is changed. The commissioner's decision was reached without any opposition. No one attended last Monday's public hearing which was held prior to their vote.