Schenectady looks into ‘traffic calming measures’ Carina Dominguez — NEWS10 ABC

According to officials in Schenectady, speeding is a problem throughout the city. And now they’re looking into lowering speed limits on local roads to 25 mph and want to implement additional traffic calming measures. 

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – According to officials in Schenectady, speeding is a problem throughout the city. And now they’re looking into lowering speed limits on local roads to 25 mph and want to implement additional traffic calming measures. 

We told you about the Schenectady couple that owns a property that has been hit by eight speeding vehicles over the years. The last time it happened was back in March.

It has prompted the Collins family to become fierce advocates. They’ve called on the city to address speeding and the city got one step closer this week.

Schenectady City Engineer Chris Wallin said putting the brakes on speeding starts with updating the electric city’s laws.

“Modify the city code to authorize the city engineer as it states to have a new section, which we’re calling ‘traffic calming measures’, which authorizes the city engineer to install traffic calming measures on designated streets,” said Wallin.

He explained to the city council what those changes are. “The idea is that it authorizes myself, with your permission, to install things that we talked about at the previous update which is, speed bumps, humps, red light cameras, school zone speed cameras. We can even put a little of you know, ‘and similar devices’ in there, just so we are not coming back for every little thing,” said Wallin.

City Council President Marion Porterfield said it’s not just one area that’s been affected. 

“We are hearing from neighborhoods across the city. There is some data where people’s houses have been crashed into and all those kind of things. So it is a serious issue. We need to and are working to get it resolved,” said Porterfield.

Tracey and Holli Collins live on Kings Road and Queen Philomena Boulevard. In January the city installed a guardrail but that didn’t stop the last car from hitting their home. Tracey fears things could get worse when Kings Road bridge reopens.

“Why is the city not stepping up to do something before this bridge opens back up? Because when the bridge opens back up, we’re going to have double the amount of traffic and double the headaches every day, worrying about what’s going to happen next,” said Tracey.

He and his wife want the city to act fast so their property does not get hit again.

“And it’s a shame that we have to keep taking this money out of our pocket to fix our property when the city is at fault for not stepping up to the plate and not putting temporary stop signs up, do something temporary until we can come up with a solution,” said Collins

He wants the city to provide a temporary fix to give them a peace of mind. 

“I would hate to see my wife or I be killed from somebody hitting the guardrail, coming through our house, hitting our gas meter,” said Collins. I asked him how often they think about that. “Everyday. Everyday when we hear these vehicles revving their engines and flying up and down this road. We think about it everyday,” said Collins.

Wallin said King’s Road is one of the non-local roads in Schenectady that will likely see speed limits drop to 25 mph come next year. 

In the meantime, Porterfield urges the public to join in on the traffic safety conversations. There will be a public hearing to discuss those changes to the city’s code in late October.

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