Schenectady council holds public hearing on ordinance to set citywide 25 mph speed limit

Schenectady — The Schenectady City Council held a public hearing on Jan. 13, 2025 on a proposed ordinance to amend Schenectady City Code chapter 248 to set the citywide default speed limit at 25 mph.

Neighborhood leaders and residents told the council that a lower default speed would improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety and support the city’s walkability goals. Speakers pointed to traffic studies and examples from other cities and requested follow-up on enforcement and targeted street-design changes.

Lori Batcheldor, president of Schenectady United Neighborhoods and a resident of Upper Union Street, said the measure aligns with years of neighborhood advocacy. "We hope you will proceed with this change as it helps meet 1 of our recommendations for improved safe streets and pedestrian safety, and it will benefit the entire city," Batcheldor said.

Suzanne Unger, a member of the Stockade Association and a board member of the Schenectady Heritage Foundation, told the council the Stockade’s narrow streets and high pedestrian activity make a lower default speed important. "Lowering speed limits will improve walkability and further connect city neighborhoods," she said.

Resident Richard Unger cited data from other cities and urged adoption of the ordinance. "Lowering the Schenectady citywide default speed limit to 25 miles an hour is a relatively inexpensive means to quickly improve the severity of injuries resulting from motorist, pedestrian, and bicyclist accidents," Unger said, and asked whether the study and a list of streets that would remain at 30 mph are publicly available.

Tom Carey, president of the Upper Union Neighborhood Association and a Cycle Schenectady board member, said the change must be paired with physical traffic-calming measures. "A lower speed limit is necessary to make our city safe and desirable as a place where residents and visitors can move around the city without relying on cars," Carey said. He and others urged adding crosswalks, bump-outs and other design changes when streets are repaved.

Councilmember Patrick thanked speakers and framed the ordinance as part of a multi-step approach. "We've said from the start that we see this as a safety issue," she said, and asked residents to continue reporting problem locations so staff can prioritize engineering and enforcement actions.

Council members and the mayor noted the proposed change follows a traffic study the city commissioned; speakers repeatedly asked where that study and a list of exceptions (streets that would remain 30 mph) could be found. One speaker said the ordinance lists an effective date in March; that timing was raised as a question rather than confirmed in the hearing.

Votes at a glance: during the meeting councilmembers approved minutes from the Dec. 23, 2024 meeting and approved the legislative consent agenda by voice vote; both motions passed by voice ("Aye") and the meeting adjournment motion also passed by voice vote. The public hearing on the 25 mph ordinance was held and then closed; no final council vote on the ordinance appears in the transcript.

The council president closed the public hearing after seven people had spoken. The record shows broad neighborhood support for the proposed 25 mph default and repeated requests that the change be accompanied by clearer enforcement plans and targeted street redesigns.

The ordinance text read into the record referenced Schenectady City Code chapter 248 and (as cited by a speaker) sections noted in the draft ordinance as 248-11 and 248-16; the transcript does not record a final council vote or an implementation plan in detail.

Community members and council members said next steps should include posting the traffic study and a list of streets that will remain at higher limits, coordinating engineering work to add traffic-calming features during routine maintenance, and clarifying enforcement plans with the police department. The city’s formal adoption timeline and whether the March date cited by a speaker is the ordinance’s effective date were not confirmed in the hearing.