State to weigh in on Austin Ridge Road speed reduction request in Potsdam

BY ADAM ATKINSON
North Country This Week

POTSDAM — Residents along Austin Ridge Road requesting a speed reduction there will now wait to see if the state agrees to the change.

Citing safety concerns, the residents filed a petition with the town to have the speed limit on the road dropped to 45 miles per hour from 55.

Town council members voted to support the speed reduction at their meeting March 14, and agreed to send the request to the state Department of Transportation. The state has the final say and DOT traffic analysts are expected to review the stretch before an approval is given.

The road is well known for being busy. The resolution passed by the board to support the speed reduction called it a “thoroughfare between the Town of Norfolk and the highly traveled County Route 35.”

Potsdam’s Highway Superintendent John Keleher reportedly confirmed to the board that there are areas of limited site distance and an unlighted railroad crossing. The road experiences a high traffic volume, including pedestrian traffic and Amish horse-drawn buggy and wagon traffic, due to several Amish homesteads in the area. There are also three seasonal businesses on the road.