Plainville Police Studying Traffic and Speeding with New Speed Radar Sign

After complaints from residents that there was too much speeding in town, the Plainville Police took a modern approach as a response. When the department received a new speed radar sign in August, it was quickly put to use to study the driving habits around Plainville. Since receiving the new sign, the department has been moving the sign around town and reporting on their findings on their Facebook page.

The new sign, which is held up on a poll by a bracket near a speed limit sign, has been helpful in tracking data on driving habits. With the ability to break down data to see when the busiest days and hours are, the Plainville police now have the advantage of being able to understand how fast or slow drivers on a street may be and how much traffic there is on a road.

“What this does is tell is if there is a problem. We can pin point it and address it,” Plainville Police Chief James Alfred said.

According to Alfred, the data they have collected is not showing a speeding problem but rather a traffic problem. With most of the information collected showing the majority of drivers within 5mph of the speed limit, there is just simply more traffic in Plainville than there has been in the past.

For latest set of data taken from October 8 to 17, the speed sign placed at 150 East Bacon Street recorded 40,964 vehicles that traveled down the road. During that time recorded, 85% of the vehicles traveled at an average speed of 42 mph in the 35mph zone. The road’s busiest day was Tuesday with the most use happening between 4:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.

A second sign was placed at 63 Messenger Street with the same intent to study and monitor the tendencies of those who drive down the road. The drivers were a bit slower down the road, going on average 37mph in a 35mph zone. The day that the street saw the most activity on Wednesdays and the hour that saw the highest use was between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m.

Earlier in September, a 22-day deployment at 408 South Street showed 85% of vehicles traveling at an average of 39mph in the 30mph zone. The most active day was Monday and the road was used the most between 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

With the recent purchase of 10 new brackets to hold the speed sign, the department is looking at more locations to place the sign.