DOT will study Route 18 by Kendall school to determine if speed reduction needed

By Kristina Gabalski, Correspondent Posted 23 February 2017 at 2:58 pm

Photo by Tom Rivers: There was a fatal car accident last month at the Route 18 and Norway Road intersection, not far from the school entrance.

KENDALL – The New York State Department of Transportation will complete a study before deciding whether the speed limit outside the Kendall Jr./Sr. High School on Rt. 18 (Roosevelt Highway) will be reduced.

“We are anxiously awaiting their response,” Town Supervisor Tony Cammarata said during the Town Board meeting on Tuesday evening.

Many community stakeholders have pressed the DOT for the study, seeking a speed reduction, including the Town Board, Kendall Central School Board of Education, the Orleans County Chamber of Commerce, the Orleans County Legislature, the Kendall Lions and Leo clubs, and other local residents.

The current speed limit is 50 miles per hour in front of the school.

County Legislator Ken DeRoller attended Tuesday’s Town Board meeting and reported that the study will take place in the very near future. He is pleased the state is looking into the issue.

“It is a very important issue for our community,” DeRoller said. “We are encouraged we have the right players at the table.”

He explained that the study will cover the stretch of Rt. 18 from Kendall Road (Rt. 237) to Norway Road, and that the state typically considers a span of 1,320 feet in front of a school to be a school speed limit zone which, “should be 10 miles per hour lower than the adjoining limit,” DeRoller said.

In November last year, Kendall Town Board members passed a resolution asking the state to drop the speed limit in front of the school from 50 mph to 20 mph. Town Board members said the current speed limit is creating dangerous conditions for students.

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