Keene weighs 25 mph limit for School Street as detours boost traffic

The city is not yet saying how long the lower limit would remain in place if the ordinance is approved.

Keene officials are moving toward a lower speed limit on School Street after downtown construction has sent more drivers onto the road and raised concerns about noise and neighborhood disruption. The Public Works Department is drafting an ordinance that would reduce the posted limit from 30 to 25 mph, with Public Works Director Don Lussier saying last week that the proposal could be ready for a first City Council reading by Nov. 5.

Traffic counts taken this year show how much the street has changed. City Engineer Bryan Ruoff told the Municipal Services, Facilities and Infrastructure Committee that vehicle volume on School Street rose from about 2,100 trips per day in an early-summer study to roughly 4,200 in a second study completed this month. He linked the increase to detours connected with the downtown infrastructure project in Central Square.

Ruoff said the data also suggest that most motorists are already traveling well below the current limit. Average speeds were about 17 mph in the first study and dipped slightly in the later one. He said only around 3 percent of drivers were above 30 mph, which works out to about 126 vehicles a day. In his view, the street’s narrow layout and the added traffic itself are already slowing cars enough that more aggressive measures, such as speed bumps, are not needed.

The city is not yet saying how long the lower limit would remain in place if the ordinance is approved. Lussier was not immediately available Tuesday morning to explain that point further.

Residents have argued that the current conditions are already affecting the area. In a September letter to the committee, Duncan Hilchey asked for a traffic study and warned that the shortcut traffic was undermining the livability of the neighborhood. He said the downtown business district and nearby residential streets need to function together without putting local safety and quality of life at risk.

School Street already contains a 20 mph school zone that begins at the Summer Street intersection and extends to the charter school at the end of the road. Under state law, that reduced school-zone speed applies 45 minutes before classes start until school begins, and again when school lets out until 45 minutes after dismissal.

If the ordinance advances as planned, it would return to the MSFI committee after its first Council reading before going to the full City Council for a final vote. City staff said the change could be in effect before December.

Hilchey also told committee members that another sign could help slow northbound drivers near Winter Street. At present, the only speed sign for motorists heading north is at the Summer Street intersection, north of Winter Street. Ruoff said an additional sign could be installed without changing the ordinance.

The city plans to keep monitoring traffic for the next six months and report back to the MSFI committee. Officials said they will also continue working with Hilchey and other residents on possible solutions, using the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways as the basis for their review.