WORCESTER – The Worcester City Council Traffic and Parking Committee approved a recommendation to the full city council to approve changing the statutory speed limit to 25 mph and establishing Safety Zones with 20 mph speed limits.
All three members of the committee, Committee Chairperson and City Councilor At-Large Donna Colorio, and City Councilors At-Large Khrystian King and Thu Nguyen, voted to approve the recommendation.
The statutory speed limit applies in the absence of an otherwise posted limit. Most areas under the city’s jurisdiction that are currently posted at 30 mph will change to 25.
Chief of Police Paul Saucier said that the department’s Traffic and Parking Division will expand by five officers and include motorcycle units. Those units will have lidar guns, which use laser to detect speeds.
Saucier also said there will be a period upon implementation where police officers will focus on education rather than writing tickets, similar to the
Transportation and Mobility Commissioner Stephen Rolle said appropriate signage must be replaced in the city before the new limit can go into effect.
The survey conducted by the Transportation and Mobility Department had 1,512 responses. A majority of respondents (71 percent) strongly agreed (49 percent) or agreed (22 percent) that speeding is a serious problem in Worcester. A majority (71 percent) also strongly agreed (48 percent) or agreed (23 percent) that lower speeds improve public safety.
A slight majority (51 percent) supported reducing the statutory limit to 25 mph.
The city anticipates the cost of updating and enhancing signage related to the new speed limit is about $85,000.
The full council must vote to approve the new ordinance before implementation. It next meets on Tuesday, Sept. 10.
See some of the key comments from the City Council Traffic and Parking Committee meeting, below.
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