The village gave drivers on Maple Avenue a helping hand at last night’s board of trustees meeting, passing a law to increase the school speed limit in front of St. Brigid/Our Lady of Hope from 15 to 20 mph.
The law was passed unanimously in what Mayor Peter Cavallaro called “an accommodation for residents who use the roads.” The school zone in front of St. Brigid/Our Lady of Hope recently received a county speed enforcement camera, which St. Brigid’s principal Paul Clagnaz says has been flashing constantly since school started.
“People are slowing down to 15, but it’s nearly impossible to maintain,” Clagnaz said. “With all the vehicles trying to adhere to 15, mixed in with folks still going 40 and 50, you potentially have an even more dangerous situation. Even if it’s changed to 20, it’ll be a huge improvement.”
Since the camera was put in place, traffic has built up on surrounding roads such as Drexel and Butler with drivers hoping to avoid the $80 ticket. Drivers trying to adhere to the speed limit have also had other cars speed around them, crossing the double yellow line and driving in the oncoming traffic lane.
“I’m glad you’re raising the limit to 20. I drove 15 and I almost got killed. Two cars passed me,” said resident Ann Kelly. “I agree that 20 is a lot better than 15.”
The law was originally proposed to raise the speed limit for all the school zones in the village, but the board decided to just enact it in front of St. Brigid because of the speed camera. Cavallaro noted that “generally you want to maintain as low a speed limit as possible” and that more than the speed limits, the issue was about the enforcement.
“You have a situation [on Maple] where there was no enforcement to one where there’s 100 percent strict enforcement. Our residents are at risk at receiving a lot of tickets very quickly. To change the one location makes sense, but there’s not a compelling reason to change it in other locations,” says Cavallaro. “We don’t want to raise a speed limit that’s not otherwise bothering anybody. You should only change 15 where it’s necessary.”
20 mph is the highest the village can enact in a school speed zone. The mayor noted that while it was a small change, it would cause a huge difference.
“From a practical point of view, there’s not much difference between 15 and 20 miles per hour. But from an enforcement point of view it’ll make a drastic difference,” Cavallaro said. “It’s really difficult to go 15 miles per hour.”
The village has advised the county of the change but noted that it will take a few days for the county to re-calibrate the speed camera computer for the 20 mph limit. The village will also be enhancing signage notifying drivers of the new school zone speed limit.
