The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
SPEED LIMIT REDUCED
New York State Department of Transportation to lower speed limit on Route 5
ONEIDA, N.Y. >> It’s been a sixyear fight for Ward 2 Councilor Mike Bowe, but the New York State Department of Transportation is finally lowering the speed for the Route 5 corridor in Oneida.
The NYSDOT will eliminate the 55 mile-per-hour speed zone between Sayles Street and the NYE Automotive dealership, extend the existing 35mile-per-hour zone to the west approximately .3 miles to a point just west of Stoneleigh Road, create a 50 mile-per-hour zone from Stoneleigh Road to NYE Automotive, and create a 40 mile-per-hour speed zone that extends from NYE Automotive, westerly to the end of the existing 40 mile-per-hour speed zone at the western limit of the village of Wampsville.
Bowe has had concerns about traffic and safety along the Route 5 corridor for years and was even part of his original platform when running for office. Things kicked off with an email to Regional Traffic Engineer Linda Lubey following a Common Council meeting.
“I met Linda when there was action being taken on Lenox Avenue,” Bowe said. “I thought that if they were doing Lenox Avenue, then they’re responsible for Route 5. I told them there was a concern.”
Bowe outlined his concerns in his email, saying “...Route 5 heading west from Seneca Street starts at 35 miles-per-hour, up a steep incline to 45 milesper-hour past two intersections, then immediately to 55 miles-per-hour past two more intersections, then to NYE Automotive down to 45 miles-per-hour. When going uphill, west, people are going faster to make the hill and are heading towards the 55 miles-per-hour zone. Going east, they are going downhill from a 55 to a 45 to a 35 miles-per-hour zone and gravity works against them.”
Bowe cited in the letter an accident involving a Madison Central ARC bus at the intersection of Sayles Street and urged the NYSDOT to conduct a study, to which Bowe was informed a study was being conducted for Route 5 in the vicinity of Sayles Street and that a speed study would be started for Route 5 as well.
In 2016, Bowe received word that the NYSDOT was going to extend the 35milesper-hour speed zone 300 feet east of Sayles Street, eliminating the 45 miles-per-hour zone between the original 35 and 55 miles-per-hour zone.
While this was a step in the right direction, Bowe felt more needed to be done and urged the NYSDOT to lower the speed limit — especially with the introduction of the new Byrne Dairy.
Bowe explained that originally, people would be going by some of these intersections at 55 miles-per-hour, posing a major risk to those living in the area.
“The speed limit at Lenox Ave is 45 miles-per-hour and is controlled by a light at Lowe’s and a light at Walmart,” Bowe said. “On Route 5, you have the same amount of houses in the area, but you also have the connector streets at Stoneleigh and Sayles. You also have 40 houses coming off Deerfield, Foxwood and Evergreen, along with Valenti Estates.”
Bowe added he under
“I understand traffic, but you have a 55miles-per-hour zone for a tenth of amile and you’re talking about saving may be six seconds. Is six seconds really important in anybody’s life?”
— Councilor Mike Bowe
stood traffic is a concern on resident’s minds but felt such a small decrease in the commute was not worth it.
“I understand traffic, but you have a 55 milesper-hour zone for a tenth of a mile and you’re talking about saving maybe six seconds,” Bowe said. “Is six seconds really important in anybody’s life?”
Bowe credits Assemblyman John Salka, whom he spoke to this past July about the Route 5 corridor speed issue.
“I had seen an article in the Sunday’s paper seeing he saved a light in Canastota,” Bowe said. “I said ‘Alright, maybe we can get something going’. I hadn’t heard anything in a year and a half. And [Salka] said [Route 5] should be 35 to 45 the whole way through.”
For the past six years, Bowe has been grinding away at this issue and seeing action taken nowhas left the councilor feeling good.
“After the Yankees lost the night before when I got the letter, it was a down to an up,” Bowe said. “I was jumping.”