MOBILE, Ala. ( WKRG ) — Paper Mill Road in Mobile is known to attract street racers on its uninterrupted, 3,500-foot straightaway, but city leaders challenged engineers to physically reshape the road, making it nearly impossible to catch speed.
Over two weeks after a shooting left six people injured at the intersection of Paper Mill Road and McKinley Street at a suspected street racing event, concerned citizens took to Tuesday’s Mobile City Council meeting to present their thoughts.
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“The street’s design and inappropriate environmental design invited it,” Ramsey Sprague said.
Sprague said Paper Mill Road hasn’t had speed tables since they were removed during a 2018 resurfacing project.
“[The road has] steadily attracted drag racing, which has been repeatedly complained about to political officials, agencies and police since,” Sprague said.
One of those political officials is District 2 councilman William Carroll. Immediately following the shooting, Carroll asked Interim Mobile Police Chief William Jackson to perform close patrols of the area.