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Date: 3/30/2022
SPRINGFIELD – The ongoing concerns around speeding in Springfield continue to motivate city councilors to embrace effective new measures. The General Government and Maintenance Development Subcommittees hosted a joint meeting on March 22 to discuss an ordinance that would integrate speed tables throughout the city.
The ordinance is an ongoing project for Ward 2 City Councilor Michael Fenton, who shared that he developed the initiative over the last year. Fenton explained that the drafting process started by reviewing similar speed reduction ordinances from West Springfield and Holyoke, utilizing both resources and Springfield’s distinct landscape as a guide for creating legislation.
As currently written, the proposed ordinance would allow for community members to create a petition for neighborhood councils, the Board of Public Works, public safety departments and the City Council toward the inclusion of a speed table in their neighborhood.
The petition requires two-thirds participation of all homeowners or registered voters in the impacted community. A potential petition can only be submitted on local roads that possess a speed limit of 30 miles per hour or less, according to Fenton.
“The intent here is we’re really limiting and trying to target speeding that is happening on local residential streets,” said Fenton, who shared that the project would also include a 90-day trial period before full implementation.
Fenton shared that he undertook several subcommittee meetings since drafting the initial ordinance, but his idea was initially met with adverse reactions from the Police Department, the Fire Department and the city’s Department of Public Works (DPW).
The organizations expressed concerns that physical speed deterrents could negatively impact critical first responder services, as well as increasing the challenges of plowing and draining neighborhood streets. Fenton said he utilized the past few months to refine his ordinance through input from local community leaders.
DPW Director Christopher Cignoli joined the meeting to discuss his viewpoint on the updates. He expressed that a remaining concern about the speed tables would be their impacts on other local neighborhoods, which could potentially see higher traffic as drivers look to maneuver around the speeding hindrances. The DPW director also expressed that the curb-to-curb speed tables increase the difficulty of plowing, stressing that the devices can not be placed on every street.
“Maintenance is going to be an issue…I don’t want to end up with one on every street,” said Cignoli.
Fenton agreed with Cignoli about implementing speed tables “judicially” across the city, with the two sides negotiating compromises to refine the ordinance. “I think we can come to agreement on this. I can accept almost all of these changes,” said Fenton.
City Councilor At-Large Jesse Lederman also expressed his support for the ordinance, stating that the devices will slow down an accelerating problem across the city. “The speeds we are seeing on residential streets continue to exceed the limit. I think the way to solve that is to create a physical change in the landscape,” said Lederman.
Fenton and Cingoli concluded the meeting by sharing they will continue to finalize the ordinance.