Possible speed limit reduction for Old Post Road No. 4

NORTH EAST — Things may be slowing down for Victor Kaczor and his family, and that suits him just fine.

That’s because the Kaczor clan lives on Old Post Road No. 4, a town road without a posted speed limit. Thus the speed limit automatically defers to the state speed limit of 55 mph, which Kaczor claims is too fast for the farm road, home to many families with young children.

That’s why Kaczor, and his wife, Lydia, approached the Town Board with a request to lower the speed limit. The couple was especially concerned with fast-moving traffic as they operate a preschool from their home on Old Post Road No. 4.

"Kids play on the street, people walk on the street," he said. "There’s no sidewalks, so there’s no choice but to walk on the street.

"It’s dangerous, really dangerous," he said. "It’s basically a town road, but it’s like a farm road. There are tractors with big buckets going up and down the road, when they come around a blind turn they could hit someone and they would be dead."

In the past, the Town Board has not taken steps to lower the limit. At its business meeting in August, however, the board revisited the issue and at its Sept. 11 business meeting, the issue was again discussed.

In the end the board chose to make a submission to the New York State Department of Transportation for a speed limit survey for Old Post Road No. 4. That request will first have to pass through the hands of Dutchess County Department of Public Works.

"We have a lot of roads where 55 mph is not an appropriate speed, but they’re not marked for a lower speed limit," town Supervisor Dave Sherman said, adding that he’s waiting for the survey results before making a determination as to the best speed limit for Old Post Road No. 4. "In New York state people are expected to drive according to the condition of the road. You see it more in Connecticut, where there are limits that go back and forth as you go down the road. They don’t tend to do that in New York."

There’s no timeline regarding when the county, or the state, will get back to the town with its review of the speed limit.