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Police present temporary speed-box data; Tedford Road's 85th-percentile speeds lower than residents' reports
Summary
Topsham police described data from temporary speed/traffic-count boxes deployed on Tedford Road and other streets, showing vehicle counts, 85th-percentile speeds and vehicle-size breakdowns; staff said the early data does not support some neighbor claims of extreme speeding and proposed using the data to target enforcement and engineer interventions.
Topsham's police department briefed the Bicycle & Pedestrian Committee on preliminary data from portable speed-and-count devices deployed on Tedford Road, Main Street and other local streets.
The chief described the boxes as small, pole-mounted units that record vehicle counts by direction, average speed, 85th-percentile speed and vehicle-size mix. He said the devices supplied multi-page reports that make it possible to compare time-of-day traffic patterns and identify windows for targeted enforcement.
Using a recent week of counts from Tedford Road, the chief said the 85th-percentile speed reported in one summary was about 49 mph on a stretch where the posted limit is 40 mph, but he emphasized that the detailed output showed most traffic in an 85% band between roughly 27 and 33 mph on other measurement intervals. The chief told members that anecdotal reports of frequent 50+ mph travel were not borne out by the early data sample on that road.
Committee members asked about possible confounders: whether nearby construction or a bridge closure could skew the numbers, how battery life and data downloads are handled, and where additional boxes should be placed. The chief recommended placing demo units on Winter Street and Mallet Drive and said the sample can help town staff and consultants prioritize enforcement or design changes.
Members discussed operational uses for the data: distinguishing problems caused by large vehicles versus small vehicles, demonstrating need for engineering changes to public works, and using short-term data runs to support grant or design decisions. The committee did not take any formal action but agreed to use the data to scope demo projects and to coordinate with the consultant after a kickoff.
