Niagara Falls city staff will report back to the council about potential ways to deal with speeding issues in subdivisions across the municipality.
During Tuesday’s council meeting, Coun. Mona Patel said throughout last fall’s municipal election campaign she “always” heard complaints from residents about speeding problems within neighborhoods.
“I have seen it myself,” she said, adding there have been examples of motorists “flying right over” speed bumps.
Patel said she would bring forward a motion at the next meeting calling on staff to explore a citywide review of speed limits and other measures to calm traffic issues specifically in residential areas.
Mayor Jim Diodati said reducing speed limits doesn’t always reduce speeding unless it’s paired with regular police enforcement.
“It’s difficult because they’re dealing with other crime. It’s something worthy of discussion, but it’s not as easy as lowering the speed limit,” he said.
Diodati said while some people believe there are not enough stop signs, others think there are too many.
“Majority are ignored and sometimes it’s a false sense of security,” he said.
“I think it’s a complex issue. Maybe we need a whole, bigger view from our (staff) to come up with some solutions to deal with speed. We get it all the time, throughout the city — pick your street.”
Coun. Victor Pietrangelo said some municipalities have “dropped their entire speed limit from 50 to 40.”
“I don’t know that, overall, it actually reduces the speed, but it does increase the ticket once the tickets go out — you’re no longer 10 over, now you’re 20 over and that makes people slow down,” he said.
“Except how often do you see a police officer in a subdivision doing radar?” asked Diodati.
Patel said even if one or two people receive tickets, “word spreads around faster, so it might make people rethink speeding.”
Diodati brought up an ironic story from the past where a resident wanted radar on their street and when police did it, the person who requested it “got the first ticket.”
“I’m not saying who it but it’s a true story,” he said.