Another Capital Region municipality is considering reducing its speed limit.
The idea of lowering a citywide speed limit to 25 mph appears to be gaining favor with elected officials.
Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan was preparing to sign legislation to do so Monday.
For the past two years, councilors in nearby Schenectady have discussed reducing speeds on city streets, but no measure has been drafted to vote on.
And Mayor Bill Keeler, a former New York State Police major, says Cohoes officials are moving the idea forward.
"It's something that we're doing because we can," said Keeler. "Last year, the state allowed municipalities to drop speed limits down to 25 miles per hour, really, it's a matter of public safety, and in Cohoes, we have a lot of narrow city streets, sometimes there's parking on both sides, and 30 miles an hour is just too fast considering those conditions. And we also have residential neighborhoods where 30 miles an hour is just too fast, and when you consider that human nature being what it is, there tends to be 'speed creep.' People tend to think that the speed limit is a guideline. That's where you start, and then it's okay to creep up, maybe 5, 10 miles an hour. So you know, 30 miles an hour on the city streets is one thing, but the 'speed creep' often puts that up closer to 40 miles an hour, which is clearly too fast."
Mike Flynn manages the New York office of Sam Schwartz Engineering, a transportation firm.
"I think it's important to remember that New York state has a complete streets law on the books, and there was, you know, another piece of legislation passed a year or two ago that increases the state funding match for municipalities that want to make these kinds of improvements," Flynn said. "So I think that the momentum is there, you know, the basis is there for any town that wants to try to improve traffic safety. So I think it's great if there's, you know, different towns or cities that are looking at reducing speed limits, I would just encourage them to make it part of a more holistic approach to traffic safety."
Flynn says the United States is experiencing a "pedestrian safety crisis."
"What we've seen is that, as vehicles have been built stronger, you know, and vehicle technology is improved, and obviously, medical technology is improved. The safety of motorists is generally improved. That said, there's still a lot of room to improve safety for drivers. But the even bigger, you know, challenge that we're facing is that for the more vulnerable users out there, people walking, biking, you know, some of which are doing it by choice, some of which do it because they don't have access to a car, we haven't seen that same reduction in crashes. And you know, speed is by far the biggest contributor to traffic fatalities and serious injuries. And you know, there's a direct correlation between vehicle speed, and you know, the likelihood that someone's going to get hurt or die in a crash, it's not a linear thing, right? The faster the car is going. It's almost more of an exponential relationship. So for every mile per hour that we can reduce speeds out there, it can have a pretty significant impact on saving lives," Flynn said.
Back in Cohoes, Keeler says the initiative to slow traffic will increase public safety.
"By setting this city speed limit at 25 miles an hour, even if you get that 'speed creep,' which you will, it's only going to go up to 30 miles an hour, maybe to 35 miles an hour, and the lower the speed, the less serious the accidents, the less property damage, less injury. So I think, you know, it's just a good thing. I support it, and I put it out to the Council for their support. So they're, you know, considering it, talking among themselves, listening to constituents, and, you know, we'll see what happens. You know, we're not going to take a vote for another month at the earliest," said Keeler.
Cohoes police officials could not be reached for comment in time for broadcast.
