Cheshire Thickly Settled Areas Approved for Speed Limit Decrease
CHESHIRE, Mass. — The Select Board approved lowering the speed limit on a number of streets with denser neighborhoods.
During a town meeting in 2023, voters approved giving the board the authority to lower the speed limit within thickly settled areas to 25 mph.
A "thickly settled area" is defined as where dwelling houses or businesses are situated at 200 feet or less between them for a distance of a quarter of a mile or over, Town Administrator Jennifer Morse said.
Currently the speed limits in thickly settled districts are 30 mph, set by state law, unless a municipality passes a law that allows the town to reduce the limit further. However, state law will not allow a town to let the speed limit by more than 25, board member Michelle Francesconi said.
Following a meeting between the police chief, Department of Public Works superintendent and Morse, it was recommended that the following streets speed limits be lowered to 25 mph: Church Street and East Main Street.
In addition, the speed limit will be applied to Dean, Dean extension, Depot, Fisk, Prospect, Railroad, Richardson, Richmond and School streets; Flaherty, Furnace Hill and Pit roads; Berkshire, Devonshire, Meadowview, Wilshire and Yorkshire drives; Wood Lane, and portions of Main Street, Ingalls and Wells roads.
Following the recommendation of Select Board member Raymond Killeen the board also approved including Arnold Court and Crest Road.
"Even one would improve it, but they're coming down both Crest and Arnold, just at a high rate. We got now day-care centers up there, a lot of younger kids," Killeen said.
Francesconi recommended examining whether the speed limit could be applied on Lanesborough Road to Daniels Terrace and lower West Mountain Road to the cemetery.
"All the way to the bottom of that hill where the bridge is going to get replaced — it's tight, and 30 miles an hour is pretty fast through there, especially with the cemetery and people pulling out of the cemetery," Francesconi said.
DPW Director Corey McGrath will look into whether Lanesborough Road and West Mountain Road qualify for the speed limit change.
If all the roads are included, the town will need to purchase 25 mph speed limit signs for enforcement, which cost approximately $40 each.
The town will notify the state Department of Transportation of these speed limit chances after the final review by McGrath.
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