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Comprehensive plan, lower speed limit for Austin Ridge Road on tonight’s Potsdam town board agenda

Posted 12/10/19

BY CRAIG FREILICH North Country This Week POTSDAM -- The Potsdam Town Council tonight will take up a resolution to forward a petition for a lower speed limit on the Austin Ridge Road to the state …

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Comprehensive plan, lower speed limit for Austin Ridge Road on tonight’s Potsdam town board agenda

Posted

BY CRAIG FREILICH
North Country This Week

POTSDAM -- The Potsdam Town Council tonight will take up a resolution to forward a petition for a lower speed limit on the Austin Ridge Road to the state Department of Transportation.

And the board will hear a presentation on the new comprehensive plan for the town at the meeting in Town Hall, which starts at 6 p.m.

The board has accepted a petition from Tracey Haggett-Sloan of the Austin Ridge Road asking the board to begin the process of getting the speed limit on the road reduced from the standard 55 mph to 45 mph.

Haggett-Sloan said many drivers are clearly exceeding the current 55 mph speed limit in the hope that there is a faster way past Norwood west of the Raquette River. Haggett-Sloan hopes, and her neighbors agree, that a lower speed will hold speeders in check and reduce the chance of a serious accident along the route, which tonight’s resolution notes has “several areas of limited sight distance, an unlighted railroad crossing, and a high volume of traffic, as well as pedestrian traffic.”

While the comprehensive plan being presented tonight has been discussed by the board numerous times in the last two years as it has developed, it will be officially presented by Councilor Rose Rivezzi. She has shepherded the document through data collection, open discussion groups, developing arguments for priorities, and suggesting ways to attain the goals it lays out.

The plan considers the needs of the town for economic development and improving the quality of life by fostering business, renewing housing, and exploring enhancement of tourism opportunities with the Raquette River and arts programs, among other ideas.

It emphasizes policy goals on environment issues, such as expansion of renewable energy sources, emergency preparedness including building resilience into utility services, and protection of agricultural land.

The document is long and informative. People can view it online at https://bit.ly/2Xd6Rcw, or download the PDF.

Hearings on the plan, the dates for which have not been set, will be held before its adoption by the board.

The process is not closed, and new ideas will be accepted through Rivezzi at RRivezzi@gmail.com or 315-265-8117.