Happy New Year and New Speed Limit
It’s 2021!! That means that the 2020 is finished (phew!) AND most Holliston roadways have a new, slower statutory speed limit. Holliston’s finest will be patrolling to help us all learn to slow down. Maybe the mantra for 2021 should be “slow down and enjoy the ride of our lives.”
Select Board Vice-chair, Tina Hein posted this comment to the earlier announcement about the speed limit change, “Concord, Washington, Highland, Adams, Ashland, Central, Fiske, Goulding, High, Hollis, Norfolk, Prentice, Underwood, Woodland, and South Streets are all posted at 30 mph or higher in areas. These streets will not be affected by the change.
The remaining 250+ local streets will see a reduction to 25 mph, from the current statutory speed limit of 30 mph.”
Bottom line – if you DON’T see a speed limit sign on a Holliston road, 25 mph is the new statutory speed limit.
9 Comments
Concord St. from Ashland to Rossini Square, Washington St. from Phipps Hill to Milford and all of South St. are state highways and not subject to this law. The speeds and maintains of these roads are the responsibility of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts not the Town of Holliston.
Henry, what is the source for your statement that South Street is a state highway? I would like to have a look at the evidence myself.
SLOW news day
Henry, When did South St become a state highway? We used to have a speed limit of 20mph, everyone went 30–too fast. However, when asking for enforcement or stop signs the speed limit got raised “because the average speed was higher than the 20 mph”. Now the cars go 5 to 10 mph over 30, as do 18 wheelers. The new law for 25mph if not posted wasn’t a law. Everything had to be approved by the state. Common sense didn’t come into play.
Please research the above comment as I’m pretty certain South Street is not a state Highway. It is a very narrow street with no pedestrian walkways and blind hills, making it extremely dangerous for the large trash haulers, 18 wheelers, car carriers and construction vehicles using it as a cut through. It is a residential street, not a state hghway.
Fiske street MPH sign is missing coming off of Central street
Discussions about speed limits on residential streets that are “cut-throughs” like South, Adams, High, Goulding, Underwood seem to relate to both the “25 in ’21” and “Complete Streets” projects.
Those streets already have posted limits and cannot be changed except by the state, apparently. The speed limits on those streets are not “too” bad, but as streets that “go somewhere” a lot of drivers go too fast.
So in the spirit of Complete Streets (“designed to integrate the needs of all users…” (including pedestrians, cyclists) ” with a priority on safety…”) it has to be important to keep speeders in check on these skinny roads, full of blind curves, blind hills, no shoulder space.
I have never seen much in the way of speed enforcement in West Holliston. Shouldn’t there be weight limits on these roads (semi-tractor trucks going over the hills on South St is ridiculous). What are the possibilities for physical traffic calming measures, like low-rise speed bumps.
Perhaps South Street was listed in error and it should have read Summer Street.
Just a guess on my part.
Chamberlain Street is a cut through to Underwood street, how about reducing the speed on Chamberlain street to 25MPH.