A school zone speed limit sign posted near Ring Elementary School. The Jamestown City Council discussed earlier this week if the speed limit around Ring Elementary School and Washington Middle School should change several times even though the two schools are only a little more than a half a mile apart. P-J photo by Dennis Phillips

The proximity of two city schools has created a unique situation regarding speed limits.

During a Jamestown City Council work session meeting last week, Tom Nelson, Ward 6 councilman and Public Works Committee chairman, discussed how Kris Brown, city traffic division supervisor, looked into the speed limits between Ring Elementary and Washington Middle schools on Buffalo Street. The discussion was raised after city resident, Doug Champ, requested there be fewer speed limit changes between schools.

Currently, in a little over a half-mile, there are five different speed limits – during school hours – as the maximum goes from 30 mph to 20 mph several times because of the proximity of the two schools.

Nelson said Brown advised that there is no need to change the speed limits between the two schools because it meets the city’s code. However, Brown did recommend rectangular flashing beacons be installed near the schools.

Nelson said Jeff Lehman, city public works director, is looking into grants to possibly purchase the flashing beacons for all schools in the city.

“I think it’s necessary,” Nelson said. “I think those lights help.”

Lehman said there are 26 different areas in the city that need the flashing beacons and it would cost around $450,000 to install all of them.

“It’s a considerable cost,” Lehman said.

Champ said, as a city resident who has lived in the area for many years, he doesn’t think it should matter that the current situation is up to “code.” He said it’s an unenforceable speed limit for the police, which is a concern because it’s near two schools. He asked Timothy Jackson, Jamestown police chief and city public safety director, if officers can enforce the speed limit in that area. Jackson gave his opinion that the speed limit should just stay at 20 mph between the two schools.

Anthony Dolce, Ward 2 councilman and council president, said many schools have issues around their speed zones. He said, as a teacher at Jamestown High School, he knows officers enforce the school’s speed limit because he has seen them pull vehicles over for traffic violations.

“There is certainly a lot more we could do to make it better,” he said. “You can never be too safe.”

SCHOOL ZONE SPEED CAMERAS

At one point in the conversation about school zone safety, Brent Sheldon, Ward 1 councilman, asked Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist if there has been an update on the possibility of installing school zone speed cameras near schools.

Sundquist said the Home Rule Legislation the council requested state Sen. George Borrello, R-Sunset Bay, and Assemblyman Andy Goodell, R-Jamestown, to have approved by the state Legislature didn’t make it out of committee. Sundquist believes the proposal will be reintroduced when the state Legislature is back in session next year.

In May, the council approved a resolution requesting that state officials bring the bill before the Senate and Assembly for approval. The legislation, which was originally discussed by the council in November 2020, was created by Goodell, with assistance from Sundquist.

The city’s original legislation discussed in 2020 would have allowed drivers to travel up to 30 mph before they would receive a ticket from the camera system. The city’s school zone speed limit is 20 mph.

Accordingly, the bill proposed by Goodell eliminates that clause as well as delineates that the cameras will only be in operation an hour before school begins, an hour after school ends as well as 30 minutes before and after student activities end.

The redrafted proposal by Goodell also gives drivers more due process to fight the tickets, including the right for a hearing in front of a City Court judge that can include reviewing the camera’s certifications and interviewing the person who certified the camera was ready for use. Before the city installs a camera, it will have to consider criteria including speed data, crash history and roadway geometry, a requirement that wasn’t in the original proposal.

Goodell also included a three-year sunset to the program and a requirement that the Jamestown Police Department send a report to the state to show the program’s effectiveness.

In November 2020, the council approved entering into an agreement to install speed violation monitoring systems in school zones to ticket vehicles exceeding the speed limit. The council also approved a resolution to hire Sensys Gatso USA of Beverly, Mass., to install the speed violation monitoring systems in school zones at a rate of $18 per paid violation. According to a staff report provided to the media with the council meeting agenda, the city’s share of a $50 ticket would be $32.