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Coeymans police chief against lowering speed limit on town-owned roads

Sep 13, 2021 5:45 am

Melanie Lekocevic is reporting for Capital Region Independent Media that Coeymans Police Chief Douglas Keyer has gone on the record as opposing a lower speed limit on town-owned roads. Keyer made his argument to the town board last month. In July, town officials initiated the process of requesting the state reduce speeds to 30 mph on all roads within the town. The request came after residents complained that the existing 40 mph speed limit is too high and that drivers frequently exceed the limit. Residents have complained about speeding on Bushendorf, Biechman, and Blossom Hill roads, Keyer said at the Aug. 26 meeting. After he received a complaint about speeding on Bushendorf Road, Keyer said, he stationed an officer nearby for roughly 40 minutes to assess the situation. “In those 40 minutes, [the officer] observed 47 vehicles,” he said. “The speed limit there is 40 [mph]. The top speed was 48 and only seven of the 47 cars she observed were driving 45 mph or more." Keyer went on to say that if speeding vehicles were observed by residents it was "an anomaly" because for the most part Coeymans residents abide by the speed limit. He said a reduced speed limit, "... could pose more problems that it solves." Town Supervisor George McHugh said, “I can think of lots of roads in the town that should be 30… I’ve had a lot of complaints about Bushendorf [Road], that’s it’s too fast at 40.” Other town board members agreed. The police department will continue to assess the situation, Keyer said. But reducing the speed limit could complicate matters, the chief said. “...[I]f the complaints start flying in ... I’m just not set up to handle that volume of complaints.” Read the full story in The Ravena News-Herald.