Sleepy Hollow Mulls Reducing Speed Limit in Village

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April 5, 2017

by Rick Pezzullo

SPEEDLIMIT SIGN slow down The Sleepy Hollow Board of Trustees is considering reducing the speed limit throughout the village from 30 to 25 miles per hour.

If approved, the Village Code amendment would only apply to village-owned roadways and not county or state spans, such as Route 9.

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“I don’t see the downside in doing something like this,” Sleepy Hollow Mayor Ken Wray said at the March 7 Board of Trustees meeting. “The bottom line for me is I don’t want to wait until we have that fatality. I want to make sure it doesn’t happen the first time.”

Police Chief Anthony Bueti has also strongly recommended changing the speed limit, but Trustee John Leavy stressed he had not seen any statistics on accidents or speeding tickets issued in the village to convince him there was any problem with the current law.

“I’m not in favor of making a change to something that isn’t broken,” Leavy said. “I personally don’t see a problem with 30 miles per hour.”

Leavy and several other trustees said the village should review other traffic calming measures, such as speed humps, before dropping the speed limit. Hugh Jones, a 40-year village resident, agreed.

“I think this is far too hasty,” Jones said of amending the code. “I don’t think it has been thought out thoroughly.”

Other residents, such as Pat White, supported the proposed change. “For me reducing the speed limit to 25 miles per hour in the village is really important,” she said. “The slower people are going the less damage they will do if they hit somebody.”

“We have some densely-packed areas and quiet streets where it seems to me it wouldn’t be a rash thing to do but a smart thing to do,” said another 40-year resident.

Trustees closed the public hearing on the proposal but set no timetable for making a decision.

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