In August, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed into a law a measure allowing municipalities to reduce their traffic speed limits.
Now, at least one local town - and perhaps a second - is moving in that direction.
"The evidence is incontrovertible that our residents who are out there walking and bicycling, and kids going to and from school, will be safer by lowering the speed limit," said Pittsford town councilmember Stephanie Townsend.
Townsend said she and her colleagues last week reached a consensus to lower the speed limit on most town roads to 25 miles per hour.
"It sets a norm and an expectation and that consistency across town,” Townsend added. “We know as well as anyone who has raised a child, that when rules are consistent, they are more apt to be followed."
The problem is that Pittsford, like a number of cities and towns, is a patchwork of local, county, and state roads. The town only has jurisdiction over the local ones and does not have the authority to determine the speed limit on a state thoroughfare or county road, and some of the speeding trouble spots identified by Pittsford officials fall under the state’s control.
At a recent town council meeting on Oct. 6, supervisor Bill Smith said he requested a lowering of the speed limit on Clover St., where speed was said to have been a factor last summer in a fatal motorcycle crash.
Smith also said he asked the regional office of the State Department of Transportation to install a flashing crosswalk sign at the intersection of Sunset Blvd. and S. Main St. just outside the village of Pittsford, where a pedestrian was struck by a car and killed in July 2017.
Smith said the DOT rejected the requests. In a statement to WXXI, the agency said it has begun a review along Calkins Road to examine driver speed patterns and roadway characteristics. Additionally, DOT spokesperson Joseph Leathersich said, “Engineers are planning a review of pedestrian traffic at Sunset Boulevard and S. Main Street. We will share the findings of both reviews with the town when they are completed.”
In addition to state and county roads, there is a third exception to the 25 mile per hour limit proposed by Pittsford.
Namely, roads that are divided by the Pittsford and Henrietta town lines. The current speed limit of 40 mph would remain in place on Henrietta Town Line Rd. from Lehigh Station Rd. to Calkins Rd. and from Calkins Rd. south, where the speed limit falls to 30 mph.
The entire length of Reeves Rd. would also maintain its 35 mph limit.
Pittsford town council is expected to vote on the measure following a public hearing scheduled for Nov. 1 at 6:00 p.m. at Pittsford Town Hall.
Brighton also considers 25 mph limit
Like Pittsford, the town of Brighton is weighing a reduced speed limit of 25 miles per hour, but Brighton is not as far along in the process.
The matter is on the agenda for the town’s public works and public safety committees’ Nov. 1 meetings.
Town councilmember Christine Corrado said she and her colleagues frequently hear from residents about their concerns over speeding.
"The community is pretty vocal about the desire to calm traffic in any way possible,” she said. "It's not a crisis level speeding. You know, people aren't freeway fliers through every single neighborhood in town. But it's a problem."
Both Corrado and Townsend cited research indicating that the risk of a fatal crash involving a pedestrian and a vehicle increases with the speed of the vehicle.
Corrado said it is not unusual to hear reports of vehicles speeding 40 mph through residential neighborhoods. She said Brighton Police regularly monitor speed limits and occasionally set up electronic radar speed signs to give drivers immediate feedback on how fast they are going.
Before passage of the state law paving the way for municipalities to enact new speed limits, it was a more cumbersome procedure. In order to make changes, residents had to bring their concerns to their local government committees and the petition for changes street by street.
While Corrado said there is no known opposition among her colleagues to a lower speed limit, she respects the process that will play out in the coming weeks.
"There may be considerations that I haven't thought of that we'd want to take into account before we leap into making this decision," she said.
