DOT, City At Odds Over Speed Limit Schoolkids Remain At Risk

James Hufnagel

It doesn’t make a lot of sense.

While the Hyde Park Boulevard speed limit was lowered recently in front of Gaskill Prep, a middle school, from 35 mph to 25 mph, the speed limit past Hyde Park School, serving children Pre-K through 5th grade, remains at 35 mph. The two schools are located a half mile from each other on four-lane State Highway 61, one of the main traffic arteries of the city of Niagara Falls.

In addition to lowering the speed limit in front of Gaskill Prep, The New York State Department of Transportation recently lowered speed limits in front of two elementary schools on Route 31 in Lewiston and Sanborn, and St. Christophers on Niagara Falls Boulevard.

Why was Hyde Park School, with a front door just several feet from Hyde Park Blvd., passed over?

City Council Executive Assistant Bridgette Myles told the Reporter that the Hyde Park School speed limit change was “in the works”, and when asked when it would happen, deferred to Council Chairman Andrew Touma.

Touma confirmed that a request to address the speed limit in front of Hyde Park School was under consideration at the DOT, but that they had previously “dragged their feet on Gaskill” and he had to call several times to prod the agency into action. He added that he intends to “reach out again”, and keep pursuing the issue to “get it done in a timely fashion.”

However, Thomas S. Messana, DOT Regional Traffic Engineer, told the Reporter that no such request was made by the city or school.

“It is the policy of the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) to establish a school speed limit when it is requested of us, Messana wrote in an email to the Reporter, “and where the school indicates support for the school speed limit.

“NYSDOT received and subsequently approved a school speed limit for Gaskill Elementary School.  However, we have not received a similar request for Hyde Park School.  Were our Department to receive a request for a school speed limit for Hyde Park School, we would review the request according to our policy and take the appropriate action.”

The principal of Hyde Park School did not return our phone call for this story.

Councilwoman Kristen Grandinetti stated that the speed limit not being lowered in tandem with Gaskill was a “mistake”, and that she would make inquiries to the mayor and the city’s traffic engineering department.

An email request to Mayor Dyster’s office did not elicit a response.