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Ward 3 Councilor Nicholas Caccamo put forth the petition to lower speed limits in thickly settled areas throughout the city.

Pittsfield Moving Forward With Plan To Lower Speed Limits

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Sometimes the seemingly simple things become much more complicated.
 
That was what Commissioner of Public Services and Utilities David Turocy told the Traffic Commission on Thursday night during a discussion about dropping the speed limits in "thickly settled" or business areas to 25 mph. 
 
The City Council has been looking to utilize the state's Modernization Act to lower speed limits across the city, and Councilor Nicholas Caccamo put forth an omnibus petition to change the speed limit in those areas across the entire city.
 
The act gives cities and towns the ability to lower the speed limit in those specific areas without having to do a speed study — whereas previously, a study had to be done for any change.
 
Turocy, however, said he dug into the weeds of the state language and found it isn't so simple. 
 
"Right now the City Council has approved seven streets for a 25 mph, six of them we can't legally do," Turocy said.
 
The definition of "thickly settled" calls for streets that are at least a quarter-mile long and have homes less than 200 feet from one another on average. Turocy said most of the petitions approved by the council are in areas that do not fit that criteria — only North Street as a business district did.
 
Further, if the street already has a posted speed limit, it is not eligible to be changed by the City Council without a traffic study.
 
"It is not as straightforward and frankly not as helpful as we thought it is going to be," Turocy said.
 
The commissioner then added that figuring out what streets would be covered by an omnibus change will take some work. He said he'll have to map out exactly which roads are "thickly settled." He said the city could place signs saying "thickly settled" areas are 25 mph, but knowing exactly where those street are can be difficult for drivers.
 
"That applies to a third of the city. How do you define what is thickly settled and what isn't? It will be confusing for drivers if you don't put signs up on every street," Turocy said.
 
Police Capt. John Mullin said a lack of signage makes the speed limits difficult to enforce.
 
Caccamo said the change would send a message. He recently worked with the Police Department to measure traffic counts and speeds on numerous roads in the city. He said on Dorchester Avenue, the average driver traveled 35 mph. That is a residential area Caccamo would like drivers to slow down when driving through.
 
"It sets the tone for the city," he said
 
Caccamo said that drivers can reasonably understand the difference between densely settled areas and others. He added that if residents do get a ticket, there is an appeals process in which they can make their case that a specific area did not meet the criteria.
 
"All of the emails I field about speeding are those straightaway streets, are those residential streets," Caccamo said.
 
Despite the commissioner's concern with figuring out and posting the lower speed limit, the Traffic Commission approved Caccamo's petition to lower the speed limits in those areas throughout the city. The City Council will now have to approve it for it to go into effect.
 
As an aside, five years earlier to the day iBerkshires published a report from a Traffic Commission discussion lowering speeding limits to 25. That included councilors suggesting a home rule petition asking to lower speed limits to 25.

Tags: speed limits,   traffic commission,   

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Pittsfield's Ward 2 Councilor Petitions to Explore Police Station at Morningside

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Ward 2 Councilor Cameron Cunningham wants the city to explore turning Morningside Community School, which will not reopen in the fall, into a police station. 

He announced on social media that he will file a petition requesting the city to study converting the Morningside Community School building into a new Pittsfield Police Department headquarters and community resource hub.

"Morningside families deserve to feel comfortable and safe in their neighborhood. Converting the building into a police headquarters at 100 Burbank Street could put an integrated, visible public safety presence in the heart of a neighborhood that has asked for an end to this pattern of violence, he wrote. 

"Combined with youth programming, violence prevention resources, and community services in the same building, this is the kind of structural change that Morningside needs. The building must not be allowed to sit vacant deteriorating. It's time to use it to make Morningside safer. 

Cunningham's petition, which he posted, asks that Pittsfield conduct a feasibility study on the proposal, considering at minimum, considering the building's physical condition and cost of necessary rehabilitation, an estimated cost of relocating the Pittsfield Police Department, opportunities for the co-location of community services, available funding mechanisms to offset costs, and a recommended timeline. 

The pattern of violence references a deadly shooting near Morningside last week. 

Police are seeking an "armed and dangerous suspect," identified as Terry Martizna, for the murder of 29-year-old Pittsfield resident Justin Crawford.

Crawford was one of two individuals who were shot on Thursday, June 18, near the intersection of Pleasure Avenue and Tyler Street in Pittsfield. The second person, who has not been identified, was treated for a non-life-threatening injury at Berkshire Medical Center.

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