James Hufnagel
It doesn’t make a lot of sense.
While the Hyde Park Boulevard speed limit was lowered recently in front of Gaskill Prep, a middle school, from 35 mph to 25 mph, the speed limit past Hyde Park School, serving children Pre-K through 5th grade, remains at 35 mph. The two schools are located a half mile from each other on four-lane State Highway 61, one of the main traffic arteries of the city of Niagara Falls.
According to a 2013 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report, an estimated 10,000 child pedestrians a year are injured, hit by cars and other vehicles. 81% occur at non-intersection locations, such as exists in front of Hyde Park School.
In addition to lowering the speed limit in front of Gaskill Prep, The New York State Department of Transportation recently lowered speed limits in front of two elementary schools on Route 31 in Lewiston and Sanborn, and St. Christophers on Niagara Falls Boulevard.
Why was Hyde Park School, with a front door just several feet from Hyde Park Blvd., passed over?
City Council Executive Assistant Bridgette Myles told the Reporter that the Hyde Park School speed limit change was “in the works”, and when asked when it would happen, deferred to Council Chairman Andrew Touma.
Touma confirmed that a request to address the speed limit in front of Hyde Park School was under consideration at the DOT, but that they had previously “dragged their feet on Gaskill” and he had to call several times to prod the agency into action. He added that he intends to “reach out again”, and keep pursuing the issue to “get it done in a timely fashion.”
However, Thomas S. Messana, DOT Regional Traffic Engineer, told the Reporter that no such request was made by the city or school.
The speed limit on Hyde Park Blvd has been reduced in front of Gaskill Prep (above) from 35 to 25 mph. Meantime the speed limit in front of nearby Hyde Park Elementary is still 35 mph.
“It is the policy of the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) to establish a school speed limit when it is requested of us, Messana wrote in an email to the Reporter, “and where the school indicates support for the school speed limit.
“NYSDOT received and subsequently approved a school speed limit for Gaskill Elementary School. However, we have not received a similar request for Hyde Park School. Were our Department to receive a request for a school speed limit for Hyde Park School, we would review the request according to our policy and take the appropriate action.”
The principal of Hyde Park School did not return our phone call for this story.
Children of elementary school age, like those attending Hyde Park School, (above) would probably be less likely to exercise appropriate caution along a busy thoroughfare like Hyde Park Blvd, than middle schoolers attending Gaskill. Why then was the speed limit lowered in front of Gaskill, but not Hyde Park School?
Councilwoman Kristen Grandinetti stated that the speed limit not being lowered in tandem with Gaskill was a “mistake”, and that she would make inquiries to the mayor and the city’s traffic engineering department.
An email request to Mayor Dyster’s office did not elicit a response.