The Albany Common Council has given the green light to lower the city speed limit from 30 to 25 miles an hour.
The 11 members attending the Albany Common Council meeting voted unanimously Monday to reduce the speed limit on most city streets. The measure was sponsored by 14th ward Councilor Deb Zamer.
"An important step towards making our streets safer for everyone. Drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, anyone who uses our streets. It's not a one shot solution, but it is a necessary tool in our toolbox to improve safety for our residents. Urban centers in the Capital Region, across New York state and across the country are opting to lower city street limits to 25 miles per hour," said Zamer.
Council President Corey Ellis says the measure goes to Democratic Mayor Kathy Sheehan, who will have 30 days to sign it.
"We have to make sure we send the clear and a clear cut message when it comes to speeding in our city, and it will not be tolerated," Ellis said. "And how do you send that message as you begin pulling people over for speeding in the city of Albany, which sends that deterrent. So, you know, I can appreciate the speed limit being lowered. It can, you know, based off of studies, it can limit the amount of fatalities that happen if you're going on slower speed. But if we really want to really slow down the speeding in the city of Albany, we need a robust traffic department with our police department and beginning pulling people over for speeding in the city of Albany.”
Ellis notes Sheehan's office funded the study to lower the speed limit, making it extremely likely she will sign it.
City Hall says Sheehan has worked closely with Zamer to garner support for the new limit, adding there still needs to be a public hearing before the mayor can act on the legislation.
He says it’s up to the police chief and the mayor's office to handle enforcement. Council Public Safety Chair Tom Hoey says the city will contract out to have someone come in and change all the speed limit signs.
"Now, not every street is going to change," Hoey said. "There are certain roads that we will not change the speed limits on, like Washington Avenue, Route 20, because they're not solely city streets. But for the most part, most of the side streets in the city will be changed to 25. And enforcement? You know, the police will be out. We were just down the downtown campus for UAlbany and I saw two state police cars pulling people over for speeding. So we are working with our partners in law enforcement, with the sheriffs, and the state on cracking down. And then the other thing we're going to do, I've worked on legislation with both Deb Zamer and Ginnie Farrell, is we asked the state to give us the ability to put in speed cameras at 20 of our schools, and it's a five-year pilot program, and it'll probably roll out relatively soon with the 25 mile an hour speed limit."
Hoey is hopeful the signage will all be changed within six months.
Albany Police tell WAMC they will notify the community that a change is coming. Spokesperson Megan Craft says all the signage will need to be properly posted before enforcement can take place. There will be a short time period for educational enforcement due to the change and then officers will start enforcing the new speed limit.
