ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – The Albany Common Council has set a new pace for drivers in the city. They passed a measure Monday night that will lower the speed limit on most roads by 5 MPH.
Drivers can expect 30 MPH roads to drop down to 25 MPH. It is not yet clear when these speed limits will change, a public hearing still needs to take place, but Mayor Kathy Sheehan said they’re ahead of schedule.
Simply put by the Albany Common Council member who introduced the measure, Deborah Zamer, when crashes happen at slower speeds more people survive.
“I’m thrilled that the Albany Common Council voted unanimously to prioritize safety overspeed,” said Zamer.
The change is possible because of a statewide speed limit law that allows cities, towns and villages to reduce speed limits to 25 MPH.
A traffic study commissioned by the city provided overwhelming evidence for the change.
“And we thought it was going to take longer to do the study. We were able to find some funding, accelerate the process,” said Sheehan.
A draft map of the impacted areas will be adopted as the final version, according to Sheehan.
“We heard last night, during public comment, parents who were walking or biking with their children to school and feeling the car inches away from them,” said Zamer.
Andrew McBride spoke at Monday night’s meeting, during the public comment period, and said he’s been involved in three car accidents in the city. He said a speeding vehicle hit and totaled his car.
“And then, just over a month ago, a speeding vehicle didn’t see me and didn't have time to react and hit me while I was on my bike,” said MdBride.
Another described witnessing people die from high-speed accidents. He called for the city to prioritize decreasing speed and called the problem an “epidemic in our city streets.”
That is in line with findings recently released by the New York State Comptroller’s Office. The report, “Economic and Policy Insights: Moving in the Wrong Direction,” found traffic fatalities are growing across the state.
Mayor Sheehan said they thought the traffic study needed to make the changes would take longer than it did. She said they want to implement the change as soon as possible.
“We are going to just roll out signs that indicate that the speed limit in the City of Albany is 25 MPH. Once people know that, then we don’t necessarily have to replace every 30 MPH sign. So I think initially we want to get this implemented, we want to get the speed limit reduced, then we’ll look at where we need additional signage,” said Sheehan.
She said they are not sure how much the change will cost the city just yet. Initially, the city will be able to absorb the cost within the existing budget and determine later if they need additional funds for signage.
“This may take a while, we want to make sure that we are implementing in a way that notifies the public so that people know well in advance. We are not trying to trick anyone. This isn’t a revenue raising opportunity for us. We don’t want to issue tickets, we want people to obey the lower speed limits,” said Sheehan.
The public will have another opportunity to share their opinions on the matter. That public hearing has to be scheduled still, but it will likely take place later this month.
According to the New York State Comptroller, Thomas DiNapoli’s office, more inviting streets means more vibrant and economically successful areas.
