By Ashley M. Casey

Staff Writer

While the Cicero Town Board deferred making a decision on the installation of stop signs and a reduction of the speed limit on Cicero Center Road, residents on both sides of the issue vocalized their concerns at the Sept. 14 town board meeting.

“I think that we are premature with this,” Supervisor Mark Venesky said prior to two public hearings on the potential traffic controls. “I think there was an anticipation that we would have our police department in the new South Bay [fire building by now].”

Venesky recommended that the town revisit the idea of creating a three-way stop at the intersection of Lakeshore and Cicero Center roads once the Cicero Police Department has settled into its new home at 8819 Cicero Center Road.

The town board also held off on reducing the speed limit on Cicero Center Road from 55 mph to 45 mph.

“Listening to the residents tonight, I would want to look at what our options are before taking a vote,” Venesky said.

A handful of residents spoke against both the stop signs and speed reduction. Karen Purdy, who said she has lived on Cicero Center Road her entire life, said a reduced speed limit would only inconvenience residents who regularly travel the road and would not make the road safer for pedestrians and bicyclists.

“I would take a look at enforcing the speed limit,” Purdy said. “Most cars are not doing 55 — they’re maybe doing 50. Some are speeding.”

Purdy suggested studying the traffic on Cicero Center Road and waiting until the police department moves before considering a reduction of the speed limit.

“Once you put the police station on the corner, traffic is going to slow down,” Purdy said.

Resident Don Snyder said a change in the speed limit would not make much of a difference in protecting bicyclists.

“If you get hit by a car going 35, probably the only difference from getting hit by a car at 45 is the distance you fly as you die,” Snyder said.

Resident Tom Beaulieu, an avid bicyclist, spoke in support of the speed reduction. Beaulieu has been an ardent supporter of the “Share the Road” initiative in Cicero, which saw the installation of signs on several town roads warning drivers to look out for cyclists. Beaulieu said there are only two town roads left that still have a 55 mph speed limit.

“This isn’t about reducing the car speeds, per se,” Beaulieu said. “It’s about making the speeds more compatible with bikes and pedestrians. … It’s a much safer opportunity to have someone pass a bike at a lower speed.”

Other residents said the issue is a two-way street — bicyclists and pedestrians must remember to follow traffic laws and show courtesy to drivers.

“Most people don’t mind sharing the road as long as people riding and running also share it,” said former supervisor Judy Boyke.

Boyke added that she has seen bicyclists riding three abreast, making it difficult to pass them safely. Purdy said she recently encountered a group of kids riding their bikes who were “weaving” in and out of traffic and not looking before making turns.

“It sounds like Mr. Beaulieu’s goal is to lower the speed limit on every road so we can ‘share the road,’” Purdy said.

Councilor Dick Cushman said the most recent speed study of Cicero Center Road showed that only 1.3 percent of drivers exceeded the 55 mph limit.

“My thoughts are split,” Cushman said. “One, I wouldn’t ride any road that’s a 55 mph speed limit on a bicycle unless I had a real wide shoulder.”

Cushman added that the town should wait until after the police department moves to explore the issue.

Also on the agenda

In addition to the traffic control issues, the town board addressed the following:

• Darlene’s Brook bridge renovation: James Morrissey, transportation group manager at C&S Companies, gave an overview of the culvert rehabilitation project at East Circle Drive over Darlene’s Brook. Morrissey said the three 84-inch culverts, which date back to the 1960s, contain three to four feet of silt and gravel, preventing proper water flow.

The $550,000 project includes cleaning the culverts, inserting high-density polyethylene liners and replacing guide railing on East Circle Drive. The town of Cicero must fund 20 percent of the project, while 80 percent will be federally funded. The goal is to begin construction in the summer of 2017 and the project is expected to take three months.

The town supervisor’s office is accepting written comments on the project until Sept. 30. Visit bit.ly/Cicero914 to learn more about the project.

• Highway garage: The town board voted to approve a contract between the town and MRB Group for initial engineering work on the proposed highway garage on Route 31. The $12,500 contract covers SEQRA documentation and clearing the construction site. The site must be cleared between October and January to avoid disturbing the habitat of bats that live near the site.