NORTHAMPTON — In an effort to make the city more pedestrian-friendly, the city’s Transportation and Parking Commission will consider lowering the de facto speed limit on residential roads from 30 mph to 25 mph.
“This body has been on record for years supporting the idea that, when possible, lowering the speed limit is a good public policy because it promotes safety in the city,” commission Chairman and Council Vice President Ryan O’Donnell said.
O’Donnell co-sponsored the order with Ward 3 City Councilor Jim Nash.
“There’s this idea of taking back the streetscape, and part of that idea is that we need to figure out ways to lower traffic speeds,” Nash said.
The change would only affect streets in thickly settled residential and business districts with no posted speed limit. State law defines a thickly settled neighborhood as having residences at an average density of 200 feet or less, with a de facto speed limit of 30 mph.
If passed, the order would make Northampton the first community in Hampshire and Franklin counties to change residential speed limits.
“I think this movement towards a more sustainable, more pedestrian- and bike-friendly city is really about realizing that streets and roads used to be where people walked,” Nash said. “We’re not going to get that back, but what we can get back is a much more positive relationship between pedestrians, bikes and vehicles.”
Typically, cities and towns cannot lower an official speed limit without first conducting a traffic study for each street, then seeking approval from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, a costly and cumbersome process. Traffic studies take into account the number of vehicles traveling on a road, the average speed, and can often result in speed limits being raised, Nash said.
“It was never really in the power of cities and towns to do this, because this is Massachusetts and the state controls so much of what local cities can do,” O’Donnell said.
On Aug. 9, 2016, the Baker-Polito administration passed the wide-ranging Municipal Modernization Act, which, among many other measures, granted cities and towns more authority to regulate speed limits in their communities. Since then, 27 communities across the commonwealth have changed de facto speed limits, including Boston and Springfield.
Allowing for time to implement and educate the public on the new speed limits, the order would go into effect no sooner than July 1 of next year. No new speed limit signs would be part of the change.
“You don’t want to do it overnight. You want to educate people,” said O’Donnell.
According to a study by the National Transportation Safety Board, speeding was a main factor in 31 percent of all traffic fatalities nationwide between 2005 and 2014. Meanwhile, the number of vehicular deaths is going up, with 40,200 recorded in 2016, an increase of 6 percent, according to the National Safety Council.
Nash mentioned speed tables, raised crosswalks and speed bumps as other strategies used by the city to slow down traffic and make pedestrians safer. When asked if he thinks the order will pass, Nash said, “I think so. I think there’s political support in the council.”
The Transportation and Parking Commission consists of the chief of police, members of the public works department, city councilors, and community members.
“We have a commitment to public safety in our transportation system, and this is a big step forward for that,” O’Donnell said.
The commission meets Tuesday at 4 p.m. in the City Council chambers, 201 Main St.
Sarah Robertson can be reached at srobertson@gazettenet.com