No speed limit cut near fatal crash site

The state Department of Transportation has turned down a request for speed reductions on U.S. Route 9W in Lake Katrine, the Ulster Town Board learned one day after a three-vehicle accident on the road claimed the life of a Saugerties woman.

A March 6 letter outlining the state agency’s reasons for rejecting the request was discussed at a Town Board meeting Thursday at which members acknowledged police had not determined whether excessive speed was the cause of the accident.

Still, said town Supervisor James Quigley, “this letter is particularly troublesome in light of the fatality that occurred ... on Route 9W near Tuytenbridge Road, which was a section of the road which the town is asking for a reduction in the speed limit.”

The Town Board asked the state late last year to review a request that the speed limit be reduced from 45 mph to 35 mph between the QuickChek convenience store and the Bread Alone bakery, and reduced from 55 mph to 45 mph from Bread Alone to the Ulster-Saugerties town line.

A memo from the Ulster Police Department at the time stated that between July 1, 2015, and July 13, 2016, there were 12 motor vehicle accidents on those sections Route 9W.

State Department of Transportation Assistant Engineer Mark Morano, in the letter to town officials, said studies of the 45-mph section showed 85 percent of traffic traveling at 47 mph or less, while the 55mph section has 85 percent of traffic traveling at 57.2 mph or less.

“The existing speed limits on the sections of ... Route U.S. 9W reviewed by NYSDOT are proper and correct for the existing conditions,” Morano wrote. “If the town is aware of a pattern where motorists are exceeding the posted speed limits ... NYSDOT suggests that the town contact the local law-enforcement agencies to request an increase in speed enforcement.”

Morano said speed limits that are too high or too low “create a socially acceptable disregard for all speed limits” and that “impractical and non-uniform speed limits can result in noncompliance by motorists.”

Quigley said the town is seeking cost information about the use of a speed-enforcement trailer.

“[It would] have radar and license plate readers and electronic memory in it to record the traffic pattern wherever we put this trailer,” he said. “We will be bringing that back at a future meeting as a means of addressing the suggestions NYSDOT made.”