07/16/10
Spurwink speed limit to remain 35 mph
The speed limit on Spurwink Avenue, at least in the estimation of the Town Council, should remain 35 mph.
Responding to a citizen request, the council heard and accepted the recommendation of Police chief Neil Williams not to ask the state Department of Transportation to reduce speed on Spurwink Avenue from 35 mph to 30 mph.
Kenneth and Martha Keller, residents of Spurwink Avenue near the Purpoodock Club, asked that the council consider reducing the speed limit, based on traffic and that other roads in town have limits of 30 mph.
Using a marked car, police surveyed driving speeds on Spurwink Avenue near the Purpoodock Club and measured the average speed of 273 vehicles at 35.1 mph, Williams told councilors at their meeting July 12, 2010.
Over the last 10 years there have been 28 accidents on Spurwink Avenue, nine of them involving deer, Williams said. He added that Spurwink Avenue is classified as a connector road, meant to move traffic through town safely and efficiently.
"In consideration of the information at hand I would recommend that the speed limit on Spurwink Ave. from Route 77 to Spurwink Church remain 35 mph," Williams said in a memo to the council. The limit from Route 77 traffic light to the South Portland line is already 30 mph, he said.
The council concurred unanimously. "I guess I don't see a compelling argument to change the speed limit," said Councilor David Sherman, who moved to accept Williams' recommendation.
Decision pending on Route 77 speed
In a related matter, officials from the state Department of Transportation are formulating a response to the Town's request to reduce speed on Route 77, from Old Ocean House Road to the Inn by the Sea, from 40 mph to 35 mph.
Cathy DeSouza, MDOT Southern Region assistant traffic engineer, said that data had already been collected and a recommendation from her office had been sent to the transportation commissioner and state police chief for their decision. "This office will notify you of the results as soon as available," she said in a letter to Town Manager Michael McGovern. (View letter - pdf)
The Town requested the speed reduction to accommodate a painted walk across Route 77 to Rudy's of the Cape restaurant, across from Broad Cove Road. The walk was a condition of the restaurant's Planning Board approval, but officials later learned that the state does not allow walks across roads with speed limits greater than 35 mph.
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