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Select Board lowers Crawford Street speed limit to 25 mph, approves 25 mph on part of Church Street
Summary
After traffic-safety staff presented speed-monitoring data, the Select Board voted unanimously to lower Crawford Street to 25 mph and voted 4-1 to lower a portion of Church Street to 25 mph to improve pedestrian safety near schools and downtown.
The Select Board voted to lower the posted speed limit along Crawford Street from 30 mph to 25 mph after the town's traffic-safety committee presented data from portable radar / flashing speed signs showing 80th-percentile speeds in the mid-to-high 30s. The board also considered lowering a short corridor of Church Street near the downtown curve and school crossing; after debate about the absence of an immediate speed-study and the roadway's role as an I-290 off-ramp, the board voted 4-1 to adopt a 25-mph limit for a roughly 600-foot segment outbound of Colby Street.
Traffic-safety staff said they would deploy temporary message boards and battery-powered speed indicators at each end of Crawford Street to collect follow-up data and encourage compliance; they noted the small portable devices typically run two-week cycles for battery life. Several residents, parents and committee members urged the changes, citing students walking and bicycling along the corridors and recent near-miss incidents.
What happens next: Public notice of the new posted limits and placement of temporary signs will follow; the police department can monitor speeds and enforcement over time. The board asked staff to collect follow-up speed data after deployment of the signs and report back to the board.
