Marblehead PD conducts traffic study

MARBLEHEAD – Without fanfare police have performed a concentrated traffic study on Leggs Hill Road, an access road to the new Lynch/Van Otterloo YMCA that has inspired frequent neighborhood speeding complaints for at least two years.Police Chief Robert Picariello presented the results to selectmen Wednesday. The chief noted that since January police have made 56 traffic stops on Leggs Hill Road and issued 41 civil citations – a 73 percent citation-to-stop ratio.The study looked at the average speed of vehicles approaching and leaving the "Y" and in general the approaching traffic appeared to be traveling faster – but only a small number of those cars reached or exceeded the 30-mile per hour speed limit.From Oct. 14 to Oct. 22, 17,470 vehicles traveled Leggs Hill Road heading toward the "Y" – an average of 1,941 per day – and their average speed was 27 miles an hour.A study of the data by The Item revealed that there were 432 cars, 2.5 percent of the total, averaging 30 miles an hour or more during YMCA hours – Friday, Oct. 15 from 10:46-11:46 a.m., Sunday from 7:46-8:46 a.m., Tuesday and Wednesday from 1:46-2:46 p.m. and Wednesday from 9-10:46 p.m.However, the study also noted an additional 2,681 vehicles that averaged 29 miles an hour, another 15.3 percent of the total.The study also clocked 17,935 vehicles leaving the "Y" area headed for Tedesco Street, an average of 1,992 per day, with an average speed of 26 miles an hour. Only four cars had average speeds of 30 miles an hour or higher on Sunday from 5:46-6:46 a.m. and two on Friday, Oct. 22 from 3:46-4:46 a.m."The vast majority of drivers were observing the speed limit," Picariello told selectmen.He noted that traffic volume tended to be heaviest during weekday mornings, tapering off around noon and picking up again after school. On weekends the traffic is heavy in the morning and then tapers off."There’s always a rush to get someplace," Selectmen Chairman James Nye said. "The biggest problems around the schools are in the morning."