Residents press Menands board on speeding, train horns and crosswalk safety

Several residents used the public-comment period at Monday's Menands Village meeting to press trustees on traffic safety, train horn use and pedestrian hazards.

Resident Bill Garvey supported Local Law No. 3 of 2024 and urged reduced speeds on streets he described as being used as a "speedway," suggesting reductions from 30 to 20 mph on certain local streets. The board responded that recent New York State changes permit reducing municipal speed limits to 25 mph but that a study or notice is typically required before implementation. "They recently reduced that and gave you the option to go to 25," Speaker 2 said, explaining the legal and practical constraints.

Elizabeth Hoffman, who had raised King Street speed concerns at previous meetings, asked about interim measures before longer engineering projects. Speaker 2 said the village deployed a radar speed trailer and that average speeds measured were "just over 20," and discussed options including permanent speed bumps or redesign as part of upcoming South End infrastructure work.

Remote participant Paul Harbor raised concerns about vegetation and equipment along the railroad tracks that have, in his observation, gone through intersections without sounding horns. "Five out of six times that I've seen them, they don't blow their horn," Harbor said. The board said it would follow up with a trustee who has a rail contact to investigate and with CP Rail.

Board members told residents they will continue to gather data and look at preliminary, lower-cost traffic-calming measures while pursuing longer-term street redesign and speed-limit review.