GENEVA \u2014 For more than two years, Ward 1 Councilor Chris Lavin has been pushing for measures to make busy South Main Street safer for people, vehicles, and bicycles.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday night, some of the measures he has been pushing, with support from Councilor-at-Large John Brennan, received City Council approval.<\/p>\n
Council approved a resolution asking the New York State Department of Transportation to conduct a study to evaluate reducing the speed limit on South Main (Route 14) from 30 mph to 25 mph.<\/p>\n
The goal is to make a busy roadway with considerable truck traffic safer for all.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is all about safety,\u201d Lavin said after the meeting,<\/p>\n
While cities can reduce the speeds of their streets to as low as 25 mph, most Geneva officials believe it can\u2019t do so on South Main because it\u2019s a state highway. Thus, the need for a state study to determine whether a speed reduction is needed to improve safety. If so, the city would then be able to post 25 mph signs.<\/p>\n
However, Ward 3 Councilor Pat Grimaldi said while South Main is part of Route 14, he learned recently that section is city-owned, so there is no reason to ask the state for a study \u2014 meaning the city can reduce the speed to 25 mph without DOT approval.<\/p>\n
In fact, he said it\u2019s likely they would not conduct such a study because South Main is a city street.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe DOT can basically do nothing,\u201d Grimaldi said.<\/p>\n
In a related move, Council passed a resolution asking the DOT to study the elimination of parking on the east side of South Main between 645 S. Main St. and 715 S. Main St. Lavin has argued that removing 21 spaces on that side of South Main above the Hobart and William Smith boathouse would improve traffic safety, sight distance, and traffic flow.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s tight there,\u201d Lavin said, adding that many vehicles have had their side rearview mirrors smashed by passing vehicles.<\/p>\n
Lavin claimed the parking spaces are not needed, explaining that HWS students and professors are the likely users, but that there is on-campus parking available for about 30 cars.<\/p>\n
Ward 5 Councilor Jim Petropoulos asked if Lavin\u2019s Ward 1 constituents are in favor of the parking spaces being removed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t care (if they disapprove),\u201d he said, adding the thrust of the measure is to improve street safety.<\/p>\n
Like the other resolution, Grimaldi said there is no need for the city to ask the state for a study.<\/p>\n
Mayor Jim Cecere didn\u2019t argue that Grimaldi wasn\u2019t right, but said it would be best for Council to pass the two resolutions and do more research on who controls this section of South Main.<\/p>\n
City Manager Amie Hendrix said the removal of the parking spaces likely would require a public hearing before the change could be enacted.<\/p>\n
Fearing potential studies that might take as much as two years to complete, both resolutions request the state finish them within 60 days.<\/p>\n
Hey, motorists: Shush!<\/p>\n
In other action involving what Cecere called \u201csafety and quality-of-life\u201d issues in Geneva, Council approved a resolution directing police to enforce the city\u2019s noise ordinance and state vehicle and traffic laws on muffled brakes on South Main Street (Route 14) and Routes 5&20.<\/p>\n
The city said it has received complaints from residents and businesses about excessive noise from vehicles \u2014 in particular, tractor-trailer trucks with engine-brake-retarder systems on inadequately muffled or unmuffled exhaust systems. The retarders help tractor-trailers reduce speeds, but they can cause significant noise when used.<\/p>\n
Cecere noted the state does not allow municipalities to ban engine brake retarders, which many refer to as \u201cJake Brakes,\u201d a specific brand. However, the city said police can ensure trucks have adequate mufflers and that they do not exceed the city\u2019s 86-decibel maximum sound limit for motor vehicles.<\/p>\n
To support the effort, the resolution also asks the DOT to allow signs on public right-of-ways that would inform motorists that the city enforces its noise ordinance, along with state law regarding mufflers. The legislation also directs city administration to develop a noise ordinance awareness campaign that would place such signage on private property \u2014 with the permission of the property owner.<\/p>\n
A number of suggested signs were provided with the resolution. Among the suggestions for private property: \u201cYour muffler has a job. So does our noise ordinance. Muffled brakes only.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GENEVA \u2014 For more than two years, Ward 1 Councilor Chris Lavin has been pushing for measures to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":78163,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7],"tags":[40777,65,2947,27140,40778,4620,40774,75,186,40782,40775,3241,40780,2726,40779,40776,33763,40781,27141],"class_list":["post-78162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-geneva","tag-engine-braking","tag-geneva","tag-highway","tag-land-transport","tag-noise-regulation","tag-parking","tag-retarder-mechanical-engineering","tag-road-safety","tag-road-transport","tag-semi-trailer-truck","tag-speed-limit","tag-traffic","tag-traffic-flow","tag-transport","tag-transportation-engineering","tag-truck","tag-vehicle","tag-vehicle-technology","tag-vehicles"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116697429803229806","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78162\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}