Peabody residents decry traffic near Brooksby Farm

PEABODY – Nearly 20 residents came out to City Hall Thursday night to inform the Municipal Safety Committee of their concerns over traffic in their neighborhoods near Brooksby Farm.Committee Chair Michael Garabedian began the meeting by acknowledging what he believes to be a growing issue in the Felton Street area.”We’ve been battling this issue for years,” he said. “It’s an extremely tough area to walk children, your dog or yourself.”Garabedian said that much of the traffic is caused by the growth of the Northshore Mall.”A lot of people are now cutting through that area,” he said.Resident Anna Ortins of 12 Felton Street first approached the podium.”It’s been a year since I first came before you regarding traffic near Brooksby Farm,” she said. “Nothing has changed except an increase in speeding.”What Ortins would like to see done is the removal of the double-yellow line that runs down the middle of her residential neighborhood. She would like to see crosswalks and crosswalk signage, as well as a registered speed limit of no more than 20 mph.”The problem now is we have speed limit signs that are not legal,” she said, adding that they’ve technically never been registered with the state. “They’re unenforceable? It ties the hands of the police officers issuing tickets.”Lt. Marty Cohan spoke on behalf of the Peabody Police Department and agreed with the many points raised, but said that there’s a limit to what they can actually do.”The threshold is high,” said Cohan in regards to gaining approval from the State to post a lower registered speed limit.Cohan said the police have purchased three radar boards that will be carefully placed on telephone poles in the area. The radar boards will be used to monitor speeds and, with the presence of a police officer, help ticket speeding drivers.According to Cohan, the City requested a lower posted speed limit nearly six or seven years ago, but was denied because the state believed the area could handle the standard 30-mph limit.”A lot has changed,” said Garabedian. “I drove 30 mph down that street and it was way too fast for that street.”The City Council later voted to approve the motions made by Councilor Bob Driscoll to request the police department to conduct a traffic study and remove the current speed limit signs, put in place crosswalks and request a feasibility study of a possible four-way stop sign. His motion to remove the double-yellow lines faced opposition by Councilor Dave Gamache, and the vote was instead to remove only one line to still provide a guideline for drivers.