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Residents press Kingston council for plan to curb speeding on Bailey Road
Summary
Neighbors told the council that Bailey Road is being used as a bypass, with repeated speeding, property damage, and safety risks to children; residents asked for more consistent police enforcement and long-term structural fixes. The mayor directed the city manager and police chief to develop a plan and officers were assigned to patrol the area.
Multiple residents told the Kingston City Council that Bailey Road has become a persistent safety problem because drivers use the residential street as a bypass and routinely speed, endangering yards and mailboxes.
Susan Garner (701 Evelyn Circle) recounted a crash that damaged landscaping and said she received only $35 of an $800 court award; she described inadequate deterrence from occasional radar units or an officer stationed far from the road. "Just having a car sit there is not a deterrent," she told the council.
Laura Weigel (120 Bailey Road) said three mailboxes near her house were recently struck and asked the council to station an officer at neighborhood entrances to clock and ticket speeders and to pursue structural changes to the road. Residents said the problem is worse when the interstate backs up and includes motorcycles and large delivery trucks.
Council members and staff acknowledged the concerns. The mayor asked the city manager to coordinate with the police chief and captains on enforcement and infrastructure options. The police chief said officers can and will write speeding tickets and confirmed two officers would patrol the road the next day.
The council did not adopt a formal engineering plan at the meeting; staff were asked to return with recommendations and potential timelines for enforcement deployment and for any structural changes that would reduce speeding.
