Solutions elusive on Franklin Avenue speeding problem

MILLBROOK — Speeding is an ongoing dilemma in the village of Millbrook, one Village Board members are constantly working to solve. At the Tuesday, March 13, Village Board meeting, Trustee Mike Herzog presented a complaint from a resident whose car was recently clipped by a tanker truck. Herzog said the resident was upset the tanker truck had been speeding down the street and wanted to know what the Village Board would do about the problem.“I informed him that it was a state road, and that unfortunately we did not have the jurisdiction over enforcing the speed limit [there],” said Herzog. “But it is something we may want to consider, looking at other things we could do as a village, even though it’s not our road, that could evade some of the problems with the tanker trucks coming through town and causing problems in terms of the narrow street.”Mayor Laura Hurley said the village is not able to interfere with interstate commerce, which is the reason why it can’t prohibit trucks from coming through the center of the village. Board members had ideas on how to use radars to perhaps slow down speeding truck drivers, however they agreed there are no safe areas for law enforcement to pull over speeding tractor trailer trucks in the village.Some present at last week’s meeting said there is now a lot less traffic going through the village than there used to be due to measures taken to reduce speeding traffic, which many are concerned is detrimental to business. The fear is that even fewer people will travel through the village and stop at local businesses if further speed traps are set, or just to avoid speeding and dangerous traffic.But speeding causes other problems for businesses and residents besides its immediate impact on scaring away drivers from the village proper. It also creates a noisy environment.“Speeding vehicles create incredible noise pollution,” said Lorraine Alexander, owner of the Millbrook Country House. “The noise pollution is a big thing. I think people from the village suffer from it and we are in the village not even in the commercial center and we suffer from it, too.”Hurley said that she has lived on Franklin Avenue and the noise at night from trucks stopping at the light and making their way up the hill is disturbing. The trucks are recommended to stay on Route 44 and not cut through the village, however Franklin Avenue continues to be used as a short cut for truck drivers. A member of the public asked that the village increase police patrol, as the truck traffic can be dangerous. Trustee Edward Cox said when dealing with truck drivers there are laws in place drivers should remember.“What you have to keep in mind is there are laws that exist,” said Cox. “You can’t make up new laws. I agree that nobody should be speeding. But you can’t target a particular class of people.”Cox said that police can’t camp out and only target truck drivers. There are six locations throughout Millbrook that village police focus their coverage on, including Millbrook High School, Route 44A, Route 82, Franklin Avenue and by the Tribute Gardens. Hurley said the village police run 55 hours of patrolling a week and do the best possible job they can with the resources they have.“We can still issue tickets on state roads, and we would hope the troopers would help us out, which they do when they are out and about sometimes,” she said. “But I am going to throw this other perspective out. It’s all in how you perceive it when we start fanning out extra speeding and parking tickets; we get complaints from the business people that we are being unfriendly for business because we are handing out too many tickets.”Village Highway Superintendent Bob Collocola said many times the people who are speeding through the village are the residents themselves. Alexander suggested the village place a mobile speed limit radar to encourage drivers to slow down without having law enforcement pull them over. Village Attorney Rebecca Valk said the village is allowed to place speed limit radars on village roads, however the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) must be involved if those radars are placed on state roads.“I will talk to former deputy mayor Stan Morse, who has a contact with NYSDOT, and pick his brain about how to get those signs in place and what the benefit would be,” said Hurley. “The traffic is less but the speed is worse. I think these are all relevant points and questions and I think it’s important we keep having a discussion about it. I will follow up with the NYSDOT and the troopers.”