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Roslindale residents to stand on street corners with signs to remind drivers the speed limit has dropped
By adamg on Sun, 02/26/2017 - 12:07pm
WalkUp Roslindale is sponsoring hour-long standouts over the next month at key Roslindale intersections for the next four Saturdays, starting in Roslindale Square.
Boston reduced its default speed limit from 30 to 25 m.p.h. in January.
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Comments
I'll make sure
To honk my horn while driving by going 30.
Hey Mike, when your kid
Hey Mike, when your kid/brother/mother is crossing the street, do you step on the gas anyway? Such a thrill, right? If you don't have the moral fiber to do it to your family, don't worry; there will never be a shortage of other driving sociopath in this city who are happy to do so.
Mike's comment may seem
Mike's comment may seem callous, but I think he's actually saying that a 20-mph speed limit for many streets is just silly. At the very least, it's unsustainable...and, let's face it, unenforceable.
Just another feel-good ordinance, courtesy of the Boshton Chitty Counshill.
Unenforceable?
Let's face it - non-fatal shootings have also been determined to be unenforceable based on the BPD closure rate for open cases so what's wrong with the citizens of the city trying to do something on occasion to make it a better place to live?
How fast do you think people should take the right turn at the end of Cummins Highway? You know, without feeling like the heavy boot of the big bad government is oppressing you too much? 20 isn't reasonable?
As fast as is safe
I don't think many drivers could take that turn at over 25 without screeching their wheels. I would bet that 90% of those turns are taken at under 15 MPH.
That said, it looks like Boston is still taking a "one size fits all" approach to speed. Should Cummins Highway in Mattapan have the same speed as the side streets off of it? 25 makes sense for my street and most streets in the city, but it looks like either laziness on the part of the City or step one of speed enforcement as a revenue stream.
You all do realize that
You all do realize that writing comments in response to a troll won't change the trolls mind
#notatroll
#notatroll
Vaughn K a troll?
Nah. He's good people. We agree from time to time, and disagree other times.
But if you think posting anything anywhere on the internet will change someone's mind, you've overestimated people. That said, me and K are offering perspectives, that's all.
Nothing wrong with it. Does
Nothing wrong with it. Does it surprise you that when I write 'enforcement' , I'm referring to law enforcement by law enforcement officers, a.k.a. police?
Silly?
Any evidence to back that up? Please post that, if you would.
Meanwhile, plenty of evidence to recommend it: http://www.mapc.org/speed-limit-reduction-local-roads
Forgive me for not backing up
Forgive me for not backing up with evidence every comment I make.
I will state opinions based on experience; no crime there.
Do you spend many days and evenings driving on all types of streets in multiple neighborhoods in Boston? I do, and have done so for years. There's my experience.
In the meantime, what you present as evidence refers specifically to a reduction in speed limit from 30 to 25 mph.
Try driving 20 mph some time on several streets some time. I believe you'd find it difficult (or nearly impossible) to sustain while maintaining sanity.
Try driving 20 mph some time
While I have always been opposed to this, I'd like to point out that there are plenty of streets around Greater Boston that I take at only 15-20 mph. Many of the residential side streets that are technically 2-way but only 1 lane wide, with barely room to squeeze between parked cars only feel comfortable at that speed. Driving even 25 on those feels a bit too fast.
But there are also plenty of roads in Boston that deserve a 40 mph or higher speed limit.
The problem is that the city took a one-size-fits-all approach, which was a bad idea. It's pure laziness on their part, because the city already had the ability to reduce speed limits street-by-street. They just had to justify it through the same process they have to go through to justify a higher speed limit, which was intended to protect us, the people, from meddling politicians who are not licensed traffic engineers. But now if they want to post any roads at 30 instead of 25, they instead have to justify that with a speed study.
Great post, DTP!
Great post, DTP!
How about this
Why not drive through any of these specific intersections at 30 mph and see how it goes? You seem to think that people complaining about high speed drivers in specific spots = city wide enforcement of a 20 mph speed limit. They aren't, so what's your point?
Vaughn K, it's fine that
Vaughn K, it's fine that people oppose speeders. Hey, I've got plenty going right past my house.
All I was doing was responding to SwirlyGrrl's post, and saying that on *many* streets, it's just impractical.
It isn't impractical
You just slow down. That's all.
You should also look up what "default speed limit" already means. Hint: it doesn't mean "every street", just "streets not otherwise signed".
I do it all the time
That's because I know all the back ways around and many of them are low speed streets where it isn't safe to drive more than 20mph ... and yet travel is faster than on the crowded streets full of completely stopped people expecting to do 30-40mph but never getting there.
That's when I'm not doing 12-15 mph on a bike - which is how I know those side streets so well.
Go ahead - enjoy your time sitting in traffic on the other streets because driving 20mph is soooooooo haaaaaaaarrrrrrrrdddd whaaaahhhhh. I'll get there before you with less stress.
Instead of presenting vague
Instead of presenting vague irrelevant examples that don't address the point, you should try driving 20 mph on American Legion Highway or West Roxbury Parkway. That's what he was talking about.
(And congratulations on knowing how to cut through other people's neighborhoods. But almost everyone else who does it also drives at 25 or less. The very few people who go faster deserve tickets. But they also did before the speed limit decrease. And most enforcement of the new limit is going to be on other roads where it is safe to go 35.)
Need a straw man?
Then look somewhere else besides my comments.
Sounds like a good idea.
Sounds like a good idea. Maybe the Boston police could try paying attention to speeding drivers someday. They could collect millions of dollars and save lives at the same time.
Wasn't there a designated
Wasn't there a designated group of cops in Boston, charged with dealing with traffic matters? And didn't the City get rid of that group years ago? And then regular cops were expected to pick up those duties, and of course refused?
Or do I have it wrong?
I guess I have to ask
Wouldn't it be more effective if the City put speed limit signs up? I mean, how would the average driver know what the speed limit is when these people aren't out there?
I've seen ONE sign with the new limit. One.
Not the same impact
If you see people with signs at a corner, that's going to make more of a lasting impression than a street sign which will be ignored from day one barring any enforcement. Take the VFW - I'm sure there are speed limit signs on it but certainly couldn't tell you if it's 30, 35, 40 or what for a limit.
A funnier aspect of traffic is that of course improving traffic flow facilitates car travel and probably speed. So outside of the disasters that are the sidewalks around Forest Hills, I'm sure your basic U-Hub traffic nihilist commenter thinks it's an improvement. After all if people from Mattapan want to work at the hospitals or colleges, they should just live in JP, right?
Sure, an interesting impact
For those who happen to be driving by those specific locations between 11 and noon on those particular days.
Personally, I think that permanent signs, with perhaps a standout involving a single person with a white car with blue stripes would slow more people down. Not to knock this effort (which I know reads that way) but signage and enforcement would do a bit more.
Eh- regular signs just don't
Eh- regular signs just don't have the personal touch of indignation and self-righteousness that people holding signs conveys
There ARE a bunch of new ones
The city has wasted a bunch of money putting them in many spots as you enter the city. Have seen about 6 so far.
They don't have to - anybody
They don't have to - anybody driving is expected to be familiar with the law enough to know what the default speed limit is, and drive at or under that speed unless posted otherwise. So now in Boston, no sign = 25.
Which brings up the other problem I had with this law - now that the default speed limit is no longer the same statewide, that's a serious problem. Drivers cannot realistically be expected to look up what each city/town's default limit is before entering it, especially when most city/town lines aren't even signed on anything but the most major of streets!
Um, sure
So, someone who drives into Boston along a road that does not have signage is supposed to know this how?
As you note, the statewide default speed limit is 30. For residents of 350 of the 351 municipalities, that's the law. Again, signs are needed, not standouts.
Please re-read my post. It
Please re-read my post. It seems to have gone right over your head.
My whole point was that I have a problem with the fact that drivers are expected to look up what the speed limit is in the law before driving in a town. That's unreasonable.
Although I must point out that Boston is not the only city to have done so - Somerville's also lowered the default limit to 25, although they did it with near zero fanfare. They've also posted at least a couple signs at the city line saying "CITYWIDE SPEED LIMIT 25 UNLESS OTHERWISE POSTED" (e.g. on Mystic Ave southbound). I don't know of any other cities that have, but that's at least 2. Which just adds to the confusion.
My bad
I'd change my post to reflect that, but instead I will leave it there to shame me.
Sorry.
Nagging for a better tomorrow
Do the good people of Roslindale really have nothing better to do than serve as surrogate speed limit signs? This is up there with standing on the sidewalk and lecturing people on how to properly put out their trash and recycling.
Good for them
For being a little civic minded.
And yeah, people don't know how to out their trash out, which leads to a lot of litter and rats, so people who help spread the word about trash are doing a good deed, too.
What are you doing to make
What are you doing to make the world a better place ?
"Feel good" measure but meaningless
Unless each district has an officer to spare for "selective traffic enforcement," few if any Boston officers are going to be setting up radar or lidar to catch speeders going over 25 mph, especially when there is usually a 10 mph forgiveness rate. This is strictly a "feel good" measure along the lines of the City Council divesting from South Africa during apartheid or from Burma during their troubles.
Even if a Boston officer is available for a traffic enforcement only assignment, they are best deployed to problem intersections where serious accidents have been an issue, not to some side street waiting for a random 35-40 mph speeder. I would like to see the "increase" in speeding tickets since the law changed.
All of us
Drive too fast and we all know it. Those of us with kids are probably more aware of it.
Enforcement is what is needed
I was in Attleboro yesterday, driving on an unfamiliar main street with a speed limit of 30. As I rounded the corner, I suddenly saw an officer aiming his radar gun at me...I had no idea if I was speeding and expected him to pull me over. I was going 35 and he never motioned for me to stop, so I heaved a sigh and was happy to have avoided that scene.
My point? If I ever drive that street again, I'll know that the limit is 30 and I'll be sure to keep it close to that. If I had more experiences like that in Boston, it would have the same deterrent effect.
Will this move the speed trap
Will this move the speed trap officer at the cemetery enterance on walk hill st?
Unless Posted Otherwise
An interesting community project but how will they fully and properly facilitate?
The new speed reduction ordnance says the new "default" speed is 25 mph unless otherwise posted. There are plenty of streets in Roslindale and other communities where the posted speed limits were 30, 35, 40, and even 45 but over time those signs have fallen victim to gosh knows what ever, i.e. bad weather, pole replacement, or some kid who thinks its neat to have such a sign in his bedroom.
For what its worth, the weight restriction signs on many of the bridges have been removed or lost over time. Hint: You might way to re-think crossing a number of area bridges at the same time a fully-loaded 10 or 18-wheeler decide to cross as well.
And... we're missing a lot of single and double yellow lines in a number fo places as well, not to mention no parking signs. City council queried, no action.
So you could have people standing with signs at places where the actual posted limit is higher, and allowed, above 25 mph.