SOUTHWICK — Of the five articles on the warrant for Tuesday’s Special Town Meeting the citizens’ petition to lower the speed limit on College Highway was the only one not approved.
Greg Deily, who submitted the citizens’ petition, asked voters to say yes to his proposal to lower the speed limits on College Highway by 10 mph and install sidewalks at “two or three” places in the Town Center.
Before the vote, he tried to convince the approximately 120 residents who attended to support it.
“This will reduce car crashes,” Deily said pointing to a drop in crashes in Westfield since it adopted a 25-mph speed limit for heavily settled areas and business districts.
“They had 66 fewer crashes which is probably nearly a quarter of a million dollars in savings … car repair and insurance. This kind of change will reduce car crashes,” he said.
In arguing for the added crosswalks, Deily said the crosswalks would change the perception that that College Highway is “just an open highway, rather than what it is, a busy, multi-use business district.”
He also spoke of the frustration drivers in town often experience when trying to turn left onto the highway.
Speaking against the petition were Select Board members Jason Perron and Diane Gale.
Perron acknowledged the board had already taken a stance against lowering the speed limits and installing the crosswalks.
“… effective speed reduction strategies require a comprehensive approach that address driver behavior and road design,” Perron said reading from a prepared text. He added that “the speed limits on College Highway should remain unchanged.”
Then Gale said, also reading from a prepared text that “a number of towns that are actually reversing their lower speed limits.”
She also said the lower speeds has “proven to actually increase accidents with drivers paying less attention at lower speeds or creating more issues with impatience with drivers at lower speeds.”
With that Town Moderator Celeste St. Jacques open up the floor to comments.
Juliet Hansen supported the petition saying it would make the town “more walkable if we really want to make our town more attractive for people.”
Steve Burzynski spoke against the petition because he said it would create a “speed trap.”
Former Town Planner Marcus Phelps supported the “intention” of the petition, and “not the specifics.”
He considered the petition a non-binding referendum and reminded everyone there that the only way the speed limits could be lowered and crosswalks installed would by the state’s Department of Transportation because it owns the road.
“I would allow us to put something in motion to have MassDOT conduct a study,” he said.
St. Jacques called for a voice vote. The no vote was a bit louder than the yes vote, so a count was conducted.
Of the 119 voting , 78 were against with 41 for.
Two articles proposed and supported by the Community Preservation Committee were approved.
The CPC article to allocate $155,000 of CPC funds for the engineering and design of the repairs needed for the exterior walls of the historic section of Town Hall.
The town learned last year the brick wall were deteriorating after portion of the building flooded in the summer of 2023.
It was approved unanimously.
The other CPC article was to allocate $165,000 of CPC funds to purchase the conservation restriction and other associated acquisition costs for 10.52 acres of land on College Highway for the Southwick Historical Society.
It was approved with only two residents voting no.
Two internal town bookkeeping articles involving the Fire Department and Police Department both passed unanimously.
