School Bus Stop at Perry and Haven Avenues More Dangerous at 20 mph

For all the private roads in the Silver Lake Institute, the Speed Limit is simple. It's 15 mph. But look at the potpourri we have on our public roads that both surround the Institute and plow through the center of it. Chapman is 25 mph. Camp and Walker are 30 mph. 

Here's one for the books: Perry Ave.--going South--is 15 mph. Perry Ave.--going North--is 20 mph. Now add 5 to 10 mph onto the Perry Ave. speed limits to get the actual speed of vehicles. This does not take into account those who are clearly traveling much faster and those not stopping at stop signs.

People traveling Rt. 39 at 55 mph, turn down Chapman and encounter 25 mph until they turn right onto Perry Ave. where they are warned by a 20 mph speed limit sign to slightly reduce their speed. Whether or not they have reduced their speed around that first big curve, at 7:30 in the morning, drivers encounter the Perry-Haven Avenues School Bus Stop which is not visible nor forewarned when first traveling on Perry Ave. 

Sometimes it's the school bus that the northbound vehicles encounter with bright flashing lights; at other earlier times, drivers come upon school age children meandering on Haven and quite often onto Perry Ave. itself. At 20 mph (if we're lucky) and around curves, it's a clear and present danger for Institute children.

Later in the day, the amount of two-way traffic on Perry increases and when trucks and larger vehicles pass other vehicles, it is easy to witness some of the challenges they encounter. But the problem is even increased if these passing vehicles are also trying to avoid pedestrians--all trying to share the same number of shared feet of street.

Some residents are working to get year-round pedestrian traffic back where it belongs--on the Ames Avenue footpath which seems to be well within reach. The next logical step seems to be getting the town and/or county to replace the 20 mph sign for northward traffic replaced with a 15 mph sign which would make both directions on Perry Ave. the same speed limit--the 15 mph limit. No one should be in a hurry when traveling through the curved public road of the Institute. Persons in a hurry can use Rt. 39 with 55 mph.