Ledyard raises speed limits to comply with state
Ledyard — Residents began to notice increased speed limits last week on portions of several town roads.
From Christy Hill, Pumpkin Hill and Long Pond roads to Colonel Ledyard Highway, new signs indicated speed limit increases of 5 or 10 miles per hour, prompting concerns from some residents.
Mayor John Rodolico said Sunday the signs were replaced about a month after state Department of Transportation representatives reached out to town officials. The DOT, he explained, “identified several roads where the speed limits were less than what the state standards would be for those roads.”
In such situations, town officials have the ability to not change the speeds if they can justify their decision.
Rodolico said Ledyard Police spent portions of the last month doing test drives of the roads and reviewing available radar data to determine whether to make the switches.
In the end, the police agreed with the recommendations for all but one road— Whalehead— where the state suggested raising the limit to 35 miles per hour.
Because of its curves, intersections and overall nature, Rodolico said, the town requested a waiver to keep it at 30 miles per hour for the entire stretch.
In Ledyard Community Forum Facebook group posts, some residents said the 25 miles per hour limit previously posted on roads such as Pumpkin Hill and Colonel Ledyard Highway were “unrealistic.”
But others wondered if, even with the increases, some drivers would continue to go in excess of 10 miles per hour over the speed limit, potentially creating dangerous situations for joggers and children waiting for school buses.
Rodolico said he is aware that
some people drive dangerously through Ledyard, and that he often notifies the Ledyard Police when he sees or hears of reckless driving. The town also regularly seeks out grants that help it cut down on drunk driving, distracted driving and speeding, he added.
Still, he called the changes “reasonable.”
“When you look at the radar data, sometimes reality is different than your perceptions,” Rodolico said.
For example, the radar data — which he said had a sampling of about 13,000 vehicles — showed one road where the posted speed limit and drivers’ actual average speeds “were very close.”
Also contrary to what some may think, having a low speed limit does not necessarily prevent crashes.
According to a FAQ document put out by the state DOT, an “unrealistically low” speed limit can lead to a speed variance, in which some drivers follow the limit while most drive the reasonable speed.
That variance, the document concludes, can actually make more accidents occur.
“I don’t imagine on roads where we made these changes that people are going to drive down them tomorrow and say, ‘I think I’ll go 5 mph faster than I normally go,’ ” Rodolico said. “People will drive what’s comfortable for them.”
But, he added, “that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t continue enforcement, and we do everything in our power to do that.”