Henry Raymond
General => General Discussion => Topic started by: Henry on July 25, 2012, 02:05:47 PM
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I am hearing rumbles that speed limits are going to be changed on the Fletcher Road - As a 50 year resident on that road, I would like to have some input on it. I and many others travel that road every day and do not wish it to become a speed trap.
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i think 25 is a good speed
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If i read one of the past board minuates correctly there was suppose to be a traffic study done. I believe the chatter i heard is 40 mph from rainvilles farm to the fletcher line
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40 means 50. Everybody travels 10 mph over the posted limit. I'm sorry MOST everybody.
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It should be in the minutes, I'll look for it.
The study basically showed Mr. Allen is right.
50 seemed to mean 60.
Some were much faster.
Franklin County Sheriff's understand it's been 50 for (ever?).
They know it will take some time to remember and break old habits, but
we had others that were much faster.
The road was not designed for high speeds
and safety was the reason for my vote to lower.
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What evidence was used to justify lowering the speed limit? Is Fletcher Rd more dangerous than other 50mph roads in Fairfax. Is it more dangerous (more accidents/injuries) than other 40mph roads in town? I wish it was going to stay the same.
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I am with you Fletch, I see absolutely no reason for changing it - On the hill by Claude Rainville's, if I make sure I am going 30 mph at the top of the hill, I am going 45 when I go by the house and would be speeding. Have seen the Sheriff's Patrol parked near the hay mow entrance in the back of the barn and they certainly will pick up speeders quite easily there that exceed 40 mph. I consider speeders on the Fletcher Road, those going over 55 mph and that is where the effort should be put and not lowering the speed limit to 40 mph. Mill Hill should have the Village Speed limits which common sense would tell you due to the sharp curve at the bottom of the hill.
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It is sad that the offenders of the speed limit spoil it for the people who try to obey it. The ones who try to obey the speed limit are the ones who are being punished as the ones who are going over the speed limit will probably continue to do so. I think it is sad that a good road can't be driven on the way it was intended. Imagine you can go 35mph on all the dirt roads and now we have to drive 40mph on the Fletcher Road with good black top. Just doesn't make sense to me.
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I think changing the speed limit on fletcher road aallll the way to the town line is probably a little much. I think 40mph starting somewhere around rainvilles seems more appropriate. If they are doing traffic studies for speed limits on fairfax roads maybe there are some other roads that should be looked at too cough cough buck hollow road cough cough. In the first two miles of both roads there are actually more residents on Buck Hollow (74), then on Fletcher Road (69, also town garage, and the old milton bradley), and from meade rd to 104 being pretty much one long hill, cars get moving through there. I do believe like fletcher road there is a small portion in the very beginning of buck hollow that is already 40mph but I may be mistaken.
I do agree with a previous post 40mph = 50mph which is fine as long as the sheriff that the residents of fairfax already pay to patrol the town don't make a living on locals going 48 ;-)
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I encourage everyone who has an interest in this change to take the time to review the speed study that was performed. The detailed information in the study will surprise many of you.
The Fairfax Select Board encourages community participation at all of our meetings. Meetings are held at 7:00 pm the first, third and last Monday of the month,
(last Monday depends on our workload). The procedure for public input is to contact Stacy Wells the Board Assistant to be added to our meeting agenda.
Dave Shea
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Thanks, Dave.
Here are the minutes from the vote:
http://www.vtgrandpa.com/fxtown/6-26-12.html (http://www.vtgrandpa.com/fxtown/6-26-12.html)
I made the motion.
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Can the Speed Study be found on the internet currently or be posted for interested parties to read?
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I would be interested in looking at that speed study. Also, I was told by one of the Selectboard Members that a big part of their decision was based on a couple of accidents - A 40 MPH would not have made any difference in either one of them as one person was texting while driving and the other person fell asleep.
I have no problem with the speed limit being lower from 99 Fletcher Road into the village, but lets not make the rest of the road a speed trap.
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Sorry all but not a fan at all....
Here's my take. As a Fletcher Road Resident who has lived here almost my entire life and deal with the traffic everyday. I can tell you I am opposed of the speed limit change.
How about ALL the residents who live on that road have a say as to what the speed limit is instead of those who do not live on here or a couple people with a petition who want to control this road.....
I have heard, well we had few accidents recently. One person fell alseep and the other was texting and driving..... 104 to St. Albans has accidents, going to change that road as well?
I would like to know when the next meeting is to discuss this as I am completely OPPOSED to this.
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If I remember correctly where I saw the counter/study being taken was on the straight-a-way between the cemetery and the town garage and not on any of the curves in the road.
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To change this back, we would need a petition with 5% of the voters signing to put it on the ballot.
Stacy informs me that it has been warned in the Messenger, so there are only 44 days to go.
If the residents of Fletcher Road want to maintain 50, please call me at 782-0406 and I will help.
Lowering to 40 was recommended by the Road Foreman (for trucks entering at Town Garage)
and Franklin County Sheriff's Department (for safety).
Vermont's highway fatalities are spiking this year.
Just for the record, since I have been on the Selectboard,
I have received dozens of complaints about kids speeding,
but not one complaint about a Speed Trap.
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So the Town Garage and County Sheriff's can make this happen with a request to you and we have to ralley the town of Fairfax to get it changed back? I just want to make sure I understand how this all came about Chris.
Being warned in the St. Albans Messenger does me no good as I do not get the paper; but I realize that you have to put it in the local paper. I rely on the links you send out here for the minutes and I did not read the end of June's; which is my fault. I was out of town for work and didn't look at them after I returned.
And my other question is if they are having problems with people doing the speed limit now, why do the sheriff's office think reducing it to 40mph will make it better. All I see is a bigger speeding ticket and more revenue...
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I don't see how a change in the speed limit from 50 to 40 is going to make these speeding "kids" stop speeding. Let's change the rules or make new rules instead of enforcing the one's we've got? I can't see how that's going to work. (I really wish they'd put their time and our money into making it safer to pull off from Swamp Rd. I don't care if they are doing 40 or 50, you still can't see over that hill!)
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From the Minutes of 6/26/2012:
"Chris made a motion to adopt the speed study for Fletcher Road at 40 m.p.h. from approximately FR0099 to extend to the Fletcher Town line. Tom seconded the motion. Discussion. The motion carried with a vote of 4-0-1."
How about at the next Selectboard Meeting Chris, you make the motion to recind this. The Fairfax Town Garage perhaps has the best entrance & exit view in town. To the best of my knowledge, there has never been an accident there. I find it just a bit out to lunch to require a petition of 5% of the voters to get this on a ballot where 4,000 or so voters are asked if they want to undo what 4 people did.
There is a snow ball's chance in hell that this would ever happen and my suggestion would be that the Selectboard find some way of correcting this.
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From the Minutes of 6/26/2012:
"Chris made a motion to adopt the speed study for Fletcher Road at 40 m.p.h. from approximately FR0099 to extend to the Fletcher Town line. Tom seconded the motion. Discussion. The motion carried with a vote of 4-0-1."
How about at the next Selectboard Meeting Chris, you make the motion to recind this. The Fairfax Town Garage perhaps has the best entrance & exit view in town. To the best of my knowledge, there has never been an accident there. I find it just a bit out to lunch to require a petition of 5% of the voters to get this on a ballot where 4,000 or so voters are asked if they want to undo what 4 people did.
There is a snow ball's chance in hell that this would ever happen and my suggestion would be that the Selectboard find some way of correcting this.
I strongly agree with Henry on this! Chris, are you listening to all of us? So far I've counted 2 folks in favor of the change, and all the rest of us oppose it.
Corm
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Have to do something that's "town business," otherwise, there isn't any point in having a board. Changing the speed limit on Fletcher Road, won't stop the kids who drive fast on that road, just like gun laws don't stop crime, speed limits don't stop speeders. If they did, there wouldn't be 'speed-traps' set up for law enforcement agencies to make a buck. It's a pretty decent revenue source, esp when they ticket people going less than 10mph over the posted limit, which is what will happen on FR in most cases.
As far as accidents go, I know there have been a few, but not sure how many were high speed.
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I lived on Fletcher Road for a year, and yes some cars go fast. Most, however go an appropriate speed. I don't follow the logic either folks. A very small number of people brought this issue forward, and it goes up for a vote. Now 5% of the town has to organize a signature drive to get it re-voted?
As a highly-traveled road it certainly effects a large number of people, both those who live in town and those who don't. Obviously, there are some spots that are not safe for a 50mph speed such as some of the corners. People tend to slow down for things like that, and they do. On their own. I don't think that making the entire road 40mph does anything other than make it easier to get a speeding ticket.
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Has the town ever looked into putting a rotary on Fletcher Rd near the town garage to slow cars down? Maybe something where you would be required to drive around the rotary 2 or 3 times before proceeding would be sufficient.
And while we are at it why don't we look into getting the speed limit changed on the portion of I-89 that runs through Fairfax. I'm not sure how selectboard members can sleep at night knowing cars are going 65 MPH. Something like 35 or 40 MPH seems more appropriate.
Is it possible to make a motion at the next selectboard meeting to adopt a Selectboard Motto? Something like "Protecting you from yourself, 10 MPH at a time" or "40, it's the new 50"
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(http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-basic/popcorn.gif)
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Where can the speed study be found?
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The speed study is posted in the General Discussion Kevin
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I will post what I presented to the Select Board after I meet with them tonight. ~Mary Kay Raymond
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LOL this is like Obamacare but for speed limits!! HAHAHA
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I was very proud of Mary Kay, she did a great job sifting through a lot of information along with the help of her sister Sharon. This could definitely be pursued, but would cost the town money if a petition and vote went through. I was also very impressed with David Shea and Tom Fontaine who truly listened to Mary Kay and Tom made an excellent suggestion. It also brought out the fact that a better job needs to be done to bring forth what is going on at the Town Office on my forum. Not sure how I will do it, but will try to make sure the information is made available, as I personally don't read the bulletin boards as I go into Steeple Market or The Town Office and even though it is published in the Messenger, it is another area that I rarely read. Congratulations Mary Kay, you did an excellent job and kept your cool in a room where you pretty much stood alone. I also want to thank the selectboard for placing us at the beginning of the meeting instead of making us wait until 10 or 10:30 at night at the end of the meeting -
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I also wanted to make a point that I had learned. The Sheriff's Department had no involvement with bringing this or deciding on Fletcher Road Speed Change. They do as requested by the select board. They do a great job for the community and I appreciate all they do.
If they are requested to sit on Fletcher Road not just patrolling; it is because they were advised to by the select board.
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I contacted the Secretary of State to see if the only alternative to recinding the speed limit was to gather 155 signatures and present it for a vote to the town and received this note:
"Hello Henry,
Ali Sarafzade forwarded to me your inquiry about rescinding selectboard decisions. I apologize for the delay in responding, but I have been out of the office until today.
Under 23 V.S.A. § 1007, your town selectboard has the authority to establish local speed limits on town highways. The selectboard can establish a new speed limit on its own volition, or could upon a petition of 5 percent of the voters of the town. If the selectboard is unwilling to establish a new speed limit on its own then your only other option is to petition them to do so. I assume that because your selectboard explained that 155 signatures would be required, that this number represents the 5 percent required.
I hope this is helpful, but please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions.
Sincerely,
Brian
Brian Leven
Deputy Secretary of State
128 State Street
Montpelier, VT 05633-1101
(802)828-2363
brian.leven@sec.state.vt.us"
Apparently I was led astray and they could recind it if they wanted to, but chose to have us go out and get the petition, not telling us that. Mary Kay and I both live in this town and pay taxes here and chose not to put Fairfax through the expense of a special vote on this. As it stands now, the speed limit on the Fletcher Road from 99 Fletcher Road to the Fletcher Town Line will become 40 MPH as of August 26, 2012. "Nuff Said"
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I'm neutral on the subject... But as far as the petition goes I think that's a very that's a very responsible outlook Henry, about not wanting to put the town through the expense. I would suggest that a petition be started to get it on the ballot in March- or to be a warned item at town meeting. You should be able to get enough signatures by then.
Don't we have an election this November? What's the cutoff date to get something put on the ballot for that one?
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well if your neutral then shut up
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Ed, "neutral" means he doesn't care what the speed limit is on Fletcher Rd., because he doesn't live there, not that he doesn't have an opinion on how to handle the situation. ;-)
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i know im just givin him[ stuff in a brown bag on fire]
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Someday Ed people will learn to love you just as I did. Until then I can hear your laughter.