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Village will ask for lower speed limit on Front and Main

After months of discussion on reducing the speed limit throughout Greenport Village, the village board has decided to vote on a resolution to ask New York State to lower the speed limit from 30 mph to 25 mph on Front Street and Main Street, which are both state roads.

The village board plans to voted on asking the state to lower the speed limit at its regular meeting on Thursday, June 28. The proposal would cover all of Main Street north to Bridge Street, which is where the village boundary ends, and all of Front Street west to Sixth Street, which the village boundary ends.

At the suggestion of some residents, the board held a public hearing on lowering the limits village-wide several months ago.

Most of the speed limits can be changed by a board vote since the village owns the roads, officials said, but Front and Main — probably the two busiest roads in Greenport —are both state-owned and need state approval for a speed limit change.

Trustees Doug Roberts and Jack Martilotta have supported the lower limits, and Mr. Roberts said he would support making all of the roads in the village 25 mph.

“It sends a message,” Mr. Roberts said. “We drive slowly because we have kids here.”

Mr. Martilotta said he thinks Front and Main are where speeding most commonly takes place. Mayor George Hubbard agreed, saying that the side roads have a lot of stop signs, which makes it hard to drive fast on those roads.

Trustee Julia Robins said she doesn’t think lowering the speed limit will make much difference.

“It’s a behavioral issue,” she said.

Trustee Mary Bess Phillips said that Main Street needs more crossways for pedestrians, and more signs telling drivers entering the village from Route 48 that the speed limit is lower in the village.

Southold Town Police Chief Martin Flatley had officers measuring speeds on Main Street for an hour and a half on May 11 and 13 and reported that 90 percent of the cars where within three miles per hour of the 30 mph speed limit.

This past week, resident David Corwin got a radar gun himself and stood on Main Street, sought of Broad Street, for two hours on June 15. He found the average speed was 32.8 mph, and that 72 of 96 cars were over 30 mph, and 20 were over 35 mph.

Mr. Corwin said he could have made very different results come out depending where he set up the radar gun, what time it was, and other factors. He recalled at least three serious accidents on Main Street in the village going back to 2011.