by Geoff Fox
Town Manager Mike Faith gave town officials a deeper look into the speed signs that had been placed on Pennsylvania Avenue and High Street last month.
Faith told them he could connect to the signs via his laptop, phone, or computer to download the information.
“There’s so much information you could get lost in it,” he said.
There are seven or eight reports that can be obtained from the signs.
Faith, who lives on High Street and near where the sign was located, said the average speed going through that area was 27-miles per hour in a 25-miles per hour zone.
The peak speed was higher than the average speed, which means the drivers are slowing down when they see the signs.
“The cameras are working,” Faith said. “They’re working really well.”
The problem, he said, over the course of a one-week period, there were 10 to 12 vehicles going over 50 miles per hour.
Faith was worried about the speed coming south out of Pennsylvania and the braking point on that stretch of Pennsylvania Avenue.
From the Pennsylvania border to just before M&T Bank, the speed limit is 40miles per hour and it drops to 25-miles per hour.
Faith said as people get to the sign they’ re braking to slow down. The average speed recorded at the sign has been 39-miles per hour.
“That’s the average peak speed, but they’re getting closer to 25, 28 as they go through there,” Faith said.
Faith said he’d have Public Works mark on a map where the speed limit signs are located so they’d know where to put the speed signs.
Mayor Roland Lanehart, Jr. said he’s had a few citizens come up to him and tell him they think the cameras are “a good thing.”
Sgt. Shaw Faith of the Hancock Police Department told town officials that despite what social media has
said, the reception of the cameras has been positive.
“They really love it out here on Pennsylvania Avenue,” Sgt. Faith said.
In the few days the sign was located on Main Street, Lanehart said it did make a difference in the area. Roland’ s Garage is located just west of where the sign was located.
The sign was moved to Pennsylvania Avenue after the state told the town it did not meet SHA standards.
Lanehart said the town would eventually get a sign that meets SHA standards.
Each sign would be moved around when they are taken down for charging and the data gathered.
Town Manager Faith told Sgt. Faith he’ d make sure both Chief Rich Miller and Sgt. Faith would get the statistics from the speed signs.
“It’s pretty apparent that people are just not paying attention,” Town Manager Faith said. “So the signs a great reminder that, hey, this is the speed limit.”
He added the sign on Pennsylvania Avenue would be staying there for a while, but the second would be set at Fulton Street, which has a 15-miles per hour speed limit, and later to Baptist Road.
Town Manager Faith said if any citizens have concerns about problem areas for speed, they can call, text, or email him.
